Washington has taken the first step to shake up the European Union which is focused on its own problems and the initiative taken by US envoy Matthew Palmer should motivate the countries of the Balkans to find a solution for their problems, former High Representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina Christian Schwarz-Schilling told Deutsche Welle on Tuesday.
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.
Two years ago, there was much more room for an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina, but unfortunately it was not used, Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch told BBC in Serbian, and added that it was necessary to change the format of the dialogue and proposed international conference after the elections in Kosovo and in Serbia.
Columnist Ljiljana Smajlovic tells RTS that as a citizen of Serbia, she cannot help but wonder what the US is looking for in return if they support the abolition of tariffs.
Smajlovic says she is surprised by President Vucic's meeting with Mike Pompeo because it is rare that Serbian presidents or ministers have a meeting with such high-ranking US officials.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue could continue in December.
He said that early December, at best, would continue dialogue to normalize Belgrade-Pristina relations because of the pending parliamentary elections in Kosovo.
Serbian public broadcaster RTS reports that Following a meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, the State Department issued a statement.
RTS conveyed the whole statement.
Serbian Ambassador in Moscow Miroslav Lazanski told Serbian public broadcaster RTS on Tuesday that Washington does not consider the Kosovo issue closed.
He says that today's meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and US State Secretary Mike Pompeo shows that Washington insist on the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to continue.
Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko told Belgrade based TV Prva this morning that Kosovo is an issue that needs additional international community activity and that Russia is ready to assist in establishing or renewing Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
Botsan-Kharchenko says that Russia is ready to help the dialogue if Belgrade seeks help, primarily at the UN Security Council, as well as in Russia's relations with the EU and Washington.
American Balkans experts Michael Carpenter told the Voice of America that the coming elections in Kosovo and Serbia could slow down the process of reaching an agreement to normalize Belgrade-Pristina relations.
Carpenter, formerly a senior Department of Defense official for Russia, the Balkans Eurasia, said that election season is a very bad time to reach international agreements because it is a good time for people who advocate hard-line political stands.