The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, met on Tuesday with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O’Brien, on the sidelines of the Economic Forum taking place in Davos, Switzerland.
Through a post on the X-platform formerly known as Twitter, Kurti stated that O’Brien appreciated Kosovo’s economic and democratic progress and discussed Kosovo’s restraint “against attacks and provocations”.
“The United States is a treasured friend and ally,” Kurti said, among other things.
A pleasure to meet w/ 🇺🇲 Asst Sec O'Brien upon arriving in Davos. He expressed appreciation for 🇽🇰’s economic & democratic progress and acknowledged our restraint in the face of attacks & provocations. The US is a treasured friend & ally. We look forward to continued cooperation. pic.twitter.com/wORkZW5zeI
— Albin Kurti (@albinkurti) January 16, 2024
Also on Tuesday, the EU envoy for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajčák, stated that he had meetings with O’Brien, and the U.S. and the EU are on the same page regarding the Western Balkans.
In addition to Kurti, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is also participating in Davos.
It is not yet known whether there will be a meeting between Kurti and Vučić on the sidelines of the forum.
Previously, Lajčák met in Davos with Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, with whom he discussed topics related to the dialogue, emphasizing the immediate implementation of the Agreement on the road to normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
This Agreement was reached in February of last year in Brussels.
In March, in Ohrid, North Macedonia, the parties agreed to an implementation annex, but according to EU officials, no steps have been taken in that direction.
The normalization agreement, consisting of 11 points, includes, among other things, a level of self-governance for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while requiring Pristina and Belgrade to implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue.
Kosovo and Serbia, under the mediation of the EU, initiated the dialogue process with the aim of normalizing relations back in 2011.
The parties have reached a series of agreements, but not all have been implemented.
