Belgrade based daily Blic writes today about a Russian, an excellent connoisseur of the issues of Southeast Europe, and especially of Kosovo, and an American, who is appreciated as a connoisseur of Russian affairs.
These two are new ambassadors to Belgrade – Russian and American – who will soon begin their service in Serbia. Both arrive from Moscow.
Blic writes that the public already considers them as “specialists” for solving the most difficult questions, and it is also said that their role will be great in breaking moments to solve the most complicated Balkan node – the Kosovo issue.
The future Russian ambassador, Alexander Bocan Harchenko and his American counterpart, Anthony Godfrey, are connected, Blic notes, by many details in their biography – at least regarding their spheres of interest and diplomatic engagement, and according to experts, the Balkan’s mission the most closely connects them.
– One of the reasons why these two diplomats are sent to our country is the reaching of comprehensive agreements on many issues, among which most likely will be and the issue of Kosovo. Godfrey is known for having often made agreements on behalf of his country, and Harachenko is much more active than (the outgoing ambassador of Russia) Chepurin and more open to negotiations. One might even expect a greater balance and closer communication between the United States and Russia on many issues related to the Balkans – says Dr Neven Cveticanin, President of the IDN Strategic Studies Forum.
“Cold War diplomacy”
According to the experts, new ambassadors of the US and Russia have raised the scale for other world powers, that have their consular representatives in Serbia, who want to have an impact in solving key issues.
– As things stand, it seems that one can also talk about some kind of adjustment of the position of the great powers that sent their people to try to achieve some kind of comprehensive agreement and enable better dialogue between the US and Russia. It can be said that the arrival of Godfrey and Kharchenko is a kind of “cold-war diplomacy” in terms of reaching an agreement between these two powers – says Cveticanin.
According to political analyst Dusan Janjic, future ambassadors in Serbia will be the “eyes and ears” of their countries, that is, information gears that will greatly affect the policies of these two powers in relation to the position of Serbia in international waters, but also on the solution of the Kosovo problem.
And he believes that the two new ambassadors’ of the world powers could be a factor in establishing cooperation between the United States and Russia.
– The choice of two specialists leads to the creation of a conviction that there will be cooperation between Moscow and Washington on the burning issues, and given their previous engagements we can say that Harchenko will surely influence the finding of the fate of BiH, while Godfry will bring with him to take the skills for concluding agreements that best affect his country – Dusan Janjic told Blic.
