Cameron Munter, a former US ambassador to Serbia, told belgrade based daily Danas that President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic was ready to talk about an agreement on the normalisation of relations with Pristina, but not to “sign a paper”, quoted Serbian media.
Munter said he believed it was okay since there were people in Kosovo also ready to negotiate.
“I think Vucic is ready to talk because he is aware that Serbia’s future is essentially linked to Kosovo’s future. One without other isn’t possible,” he said to Danas daily.
Last week, Munter met Vucic but said the two did not discuss the past, “but much more about plans and perspectives of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue and what kind of negotiations we could have in December.”
He added that it was still unknown who would represent Kosovo, where early elections were due on October 6, but that “we know Vucic is interested. Also, we want to make sure that Americans and Europeans are involved.”
Munter was the US ambassador to Serbia from 2007 to 2009 when he left the post earlier for a new job in Iraq. The usual term for the US envoys is three years.
Munter said he was worried about “the things that weren’t here ten years ago. The Chinese are here now; the Turks are interested, the Russians have different ideas. We want to be sure that we understand each of them since these are long-term things,” the former ambassador said.
Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on the normalisation of relations has been on hold since last November when Kosovo introduced the 100 percent import taxes on goods from Serbia and Bosnia.
Belgrade conditions the resumption of the talks with the lifting of tariffs, while Pristina refuses to do that despite the pressure from the international community, saying it will annul the decision in exchange for Belgrade’s recognition of its independence.
Serbia’s authorities are adamant in refusing to recognise Kosovo as a state within its existing borders, saying “you can’t give everything and get nothing in return.”
