Edward Joseph, senior fellow with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told Radio Free Europe that elections in Kosovo will partly be a referendum on a number of issues, including the land swap idea.
According to Joseph, border change between Kosovo and Serbia would be dangerous and would not go towards resolving their relations. “On the contrary, it would complicate the situation, would put an end to the presence of Serbs in the south of Kosovo by endangering the status of Decan, Gracanica and other Serb important heritage sites. This would immediately give way to other broader regional issues, such as the status of Sandzak and Republika Srpska,” Joseph underlined.
He said that there are different positions on the above idea in Washington D.C. and that apart from the National Security Adviser John Bolton who supports such a scenario, “there is another position of the Department of State emphasizing that any solution for Kosovo would have to take into account the regional stability and exchange of territories certainly does not contribute to that.”
Joseph said that a possible provisional government of Kosovo would be able to suspend the tariff on Serbian goods on certain terms “including the readiness of Belgrade to contribute to positive development and success of dialogue.”
Serbia, on the other hand, remarked Joseph, is in a different situation. “The position of President Aleksandar Vucic is very strong. He controls the Government, has a large influence over the media, enjoys the support of Russia. So he has a very strong position which allows him to reach an agreement on Kosovo.”
