Former National Security Advisor of the United States John Bolton has spoken about the tense situation between Kosovo and Serbia.
Appearing on “Balkan Talks” on Euronews Albania, Bolton said that “the real threat we all face is from the government in Moscow”.
Furthermore, he added that the existing disagreements need to be brought under control so that the United States, the European Union, and other countries can focus on the conflict in Ukraine.
“From the outside, it seems that we have lost opportunities to diplomatically resolve the apparent frictions between Serbia and Kosovo. Many people have been working towards this goal for some time. I don’t know what caused the recent outbreak. I’m sure the reasons are complex, but I think that in the perspective of Europe as a whole and the United States, considering the war in Ukraine, now is not the time for tensions elsewhere in the European continent, in the Balkans or anywhere else, to be allowed to erupt. At least, we should consider that the real threat we all face is from the government in Moscow. The frictions and disagreements we have, which are numerous, need to be brought under close control so that we can all focus on a satisfactory resolution to the war in Ukraine,” he told “Balkan Talks” host Franko Egro.
Recent tensions between Kosovo and Serbia began in late May after newly elected Albanian mayors entered municipal buildings under the escort of the Kosovo Police.
Since then, local Serbs have been protesting in the north, demanding the withdrawal of special police units from the north in addition to the mayors.
Earlier, state leaders in Kosovo expressed readiness to organize new elections in the municipalities in the north but requested their preparation to prevent boycotts.
The elections held on 23 April, which resulted in the election of Albanian mayors in the four northern municipalities, were boycotted by Serbian parties and population.
John Bolton also commented on the proposal of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama for a high-level conference convened by France and Germany, supported by the European Union and the United States, regarding the tense situation between Kosovo and Serbia.
The Albanian premier presented an idea of holding an international conference for Kosovo and Serbia on 27 June, in hopes of de-escalating the tense situation in north Kosovo. That day, Rama talked with high European officials in Brussels, including the President of the European Council Charles Michel, who supported this idea.
“I think the time has come to have a global approach and take clear steps towards normalization [of Kosovo-Serbia relations],” Michel said on 29 June.
However, Rama’s idea was met with skepticism by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who said that the solution is the implementation of the agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels in February.
Bolton said that the more parties involved in these negotiations, the more difficult it will be to reach an agreement.
“I believe that the more parties involved in the negotiations, the harder it will be to reach an agreement, but there is a tradition in the United States. The mayor of Chicago, Mer Daley, when faced with a possible teachers’ strike, would close the Board of Education in a room with the teachers’ unions and say ‘You will not leave until you reach an agreement.’ They usually succeeded. However, I think that if there are too many outsiders commenting as if it were a sports event for the progress of the negotiations, there won’t be a desirable result. It would be better for Kosovo and Serbia to be represented on an island, perhaps in the Aegean, without many spectators around,” Bolton said.
John Bolton served as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019 during Republican President Donald Trump’s tenure at the White House.
Trump dismissed him only a year in office, citing “his services are no longer needed” given “many” disagreements with Trump.
