Ivan Krastev, the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia does not believe that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia will have any breakthrough this year. Even though he added that “the highest probability for this to happen would be by the end of the year”.

Interviewed by Ilva Tare for Balkans Debrief, Krastev said that the domestic environment will certainly play a role because both leaders are expected to convince their public about the dialogue. This would mean that the playground is not simply for big powers and according to Krastev, “the local leaders have a say, and that basically they can change many things if they decide to do it”.

Holding elections in northern Kosovo and implementing the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities are the very conditions for Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti to reestablish the peace and normality between two countries. Given a probable return in office of Donald Trump, Ivan Krastev thinks that “he [Kurti] can probably go for compromise because honestly speaking, Kosovo can lose much more of the change in the United States than Serbia”.

The actual Kosovar Prime Minister has only several months to try to achieve the compromise driven by the uncertainty of the result of U.S. elections later this year and Krastev believes that “Prime Minister Kurti is quite aware of the fact that probably it’s better for him to get certain type of a resolution during this [Biden] administration if you don’t know which is going to be the next one”.