Serbian media reports that Western Balkans State Department Special Representative Matthew Palmer cancelled participation in Belgrade Security Forum, taking place October 16-18.

Matthew Palmer was scheduled to address the official opening of the Belgrade Security Forum on Thursday 17 October on "Sustainable Solutions for the Western Balkans".

German diplomat in charge of the Western Balkans Suzanne Schutz, former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and former French ambassador to Belgrade, Frederic Mondolini, will speak at the official opening.

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Monday that the US representative to the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer told him two months ago that Washington expected Kosovo opposition politicians Albin Kurti and Isa Mustafa would form a new government, the Belgrade based news agency Beta reports.

Serbian media quoted Balkan experts Florian Bieber and Tim Judah, who expressed surprise at the announced appointment of Richard Grenell as special envoy for negotiations.

Professor at the University of Grazz, Bieber wondered what the role of Matthew Palmer was, the recently appointed US Secretary of State's Special Representative for the Balkans.

"If Trump appoints Richard Grenell as special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo, what than is the role of Matthew Palmer?" Bieber wrote on Twitter.

Negotiations on Kosovo in the future "likely to be in troika form" in Brussels, diplomats from EU headquarters told Belgrade based daily Danas.

As they explain, this implies that "in addition to representatives of Belgrade and Pristina, the United States Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Matthew Palmer, the EU Special Envoy for those negotiations, and one of the OSCE-like representatives would be found at the negotiating table."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will meet with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Palmer next week in New York, during a session of the United Nations General Assembly, diplomatic circles say to Belgrade based daily Danas.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had a telephone conversation with US Deputy Assistant State Secretary Matthew Palmer, a statement from the president’s cabinet said on Monday.

Vucic and Palmer agreed to meet again in the next 10 days and this telephone conversation continues their recent meeting in New York, the statement said.

It added that the “open and concrete” conversation was about Kosovo, the regional situation and their next meeting in the next 10 days.

Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, said on Tuesday the chance for resumption of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on the normalisation of relations appeared, but not before new Kosovo’s Government was formed after October 6 election, the FoNet news agency reported.

Speaking after meeting Matthew Palmer in Bled, Slovenia, at the sidelines of the Western Balkan leaders' strategic forum, Dacic said the American was “an old acquaintance, but that it won’t be easy for him.

The Foreign Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dacic and Behgjet Pacolli, told the Bled Security Forum that Belgrade-Pristina relations need to be normalized and added that they expect Matthew Palmer, Washington‘s new envoy for the Western Balkans to play a positive role in restarting their dialogue.

Speaking at the Forum on Tuesday, Palmer said that he believes there is room to reach an agreement to resolve the issue in the time after the new Kosovo government is formed and the elections in Serbia next spring.

Serbia’s Ambassador to Russia Miroslav Lazanski said on Tuesday that US diplomat Matthew Palmer should not have agreed to be special envoy for the Western Balkans.

“If he had studied history a little he should not have accepted. All envoys either died or were dismissed, from Richard Holbrooke to Hoyt Lee. I don’t know of any envoy to the Western Balkans who succeeded. This is something that every smart American politician should avoid,” he told the N1 morning show.

The traditional Bled Strategic Forum, which begins today in Bled, Slovenia, will be dedicated this year to stability in the region, sustainable development and economic prosperity. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic represents Serbia.