Former US special envoy in the Contact Group (CG), Frank Wisner assessed that a decade after the CG tried to resolve the Kosovo issue, the situation on the ground has not changed, despite of Kosovo declaring independence in 2008, RTS reported.
He added, deadlines for reaching the final Belgrade-Pristina agreement should not be set, instead a lasting and compromise solution should be found through the dialogue.
“If you set the deadlines to yourself, you would most probably not meet them. It is better to have a strategic agreement on what goals you wish to achieve, rather than set some deadlines,” Wisner told Tanjug news agency.
Wisner, who together with Wolfgang Ischinger (Germany) and Alexander Bocan-Harachenko (Russia) tried to find a solution to the Kosovo issue in 2007 that would please both sides, but it was not possible, said the situation is “as same as they have left it.”
“Unresolved relations between Serbia and Kosovo, as well as unresolved situation that impedes ambitions of the both nations, prevents full development of Kosovo and prevents Serbia’s vision of the future and the full possibility to continue its path to the EU,” Wisner said describing the current situation. He was taking part in a gathering “Balkans Dialogue”, held in Belgrade and dedicated to the issues in the region, including Kosovo.
After hearing the opinion of more than 40 participants at the gathering, Wisner thinks the breakthrough in the relations of the two sides would not happen “tomorrow or the day after”.
He believes the only way to move ahead is a joint agreement of both sides, that would need to have a strong support by the EU and the US as well, however he could not speak about the form and content of the final agreement, since “it is agreement between Belgrade and Pristina”.
Asked if back in 2007 he could have imagined that Kosovo knot would remain untied until now, Wisner noted it is clear the issue was not resolved in 2008 when Kosovo declared independence and added “he hoped that Kosovo and Serbia would be able to reach an agreement at certain moment.”
Asked if the format of the dialogue could change so that Russia and US become significant stakeholders in it, Wisner said the two governments and Brussels as a current mediator would decide about that, adding this is not a new idea.
