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.

The Washington John Hopkins University’s panel “Western Balkans (WB): Managing the Challenges” dealt with the regional leaders’ real readiness to get closer to the West, adding it should more clearly criticise the WB’s regimes, the Voice of America (VOA) reported on Thursday, as carried by the FoNet news agency.

"Great" powers want to deal with the Western Balkans now, according to a South East Europe expert from the University of Graz.

"Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, who have not always been united in their policy towards the Balkans, now want to be on same side of the rope and put under control the failed EU negotiations," Bieber said on the occasion of the upcoming conference in Berlin.

Op-ed by Florian Bieber, professor at the University of Graz and coordinator of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). Bieber will be a speaker on the event “Beyond Berlin: What Does the Next Decade Hold for the Western Balkans?”, organized by Chatham House, European Fund for the Balkans and DG Near in London on 10 July.

See more at: https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2018/07/10/time-ditch-berlin-process/