The West "pulls" the fuse of the "powder keg" in the Balkans, the US-EU lands in Pristina and Belgrade, scorching messages for Albin Kurti and Vucic

The US-EU are intervening more strongly than ever in Kosovo and Serbia. The envoy of the United States for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and that of the European Union, Miroslav Lajcak, have recently landed in Pristina and Belgrade, where they have left clear messages for the leaders of both countries. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?, reacted on social networks after the meeting. The Serbian leader says that Serbia has always been coherent while calling on Kosovo to fulfill its obligations starting from the Association. "It is time for the authorities in Kosovo to fulfill their obligations and first of all form the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. From the first day, Serbia has been constructive, consistent and a stable partner in all the processes that would lead to the maintenance of stability in the whole region", wrote Vucic. The representatives of the Serbian List, which repeated its demands for the withdrawal of the Kosovo police to the north, new elections, and also the creation of an association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, met with the two high diplomats of the EU and the USA. After this meeting, the EU envoy, Lajcak wrote on Twitter that he asked Serbian politicians to participate in the new elections that will be held in the north of Kosovo.

Strong messages for Kosovo and Serbia

Escobar said yesterday that the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia for the extension of the situation in the north of Kosovo must be reached urgently. He made these comments after meetings with the leaders of institutions and political parties in Kosovo together with the European special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia talks, Miroslav Lajcak, during which they said that the reduction of tensions, the holding of new elections in the four municipalities with Serb majority in the north and return to the negotiating table are their main demands. Mr. Escobar said that on Friday he and Mr. Lajcak must report to their leaders whether they were successful or not, while warning of consequences in case of failure. "For Kosovo, it will send a strong signal that Kosovo is not interested in coordinating with us, and I think that would be unfortunate. By the way, not Kosovo but the prime minister. I want to make it very clear that we do not see this as a long-term impact on our relationship, but the actions taken or not may have some consequences that will affect part of the relationship," said Mr. Escobar.

The US message for Kosovo

He called the Kosovo government's stance against the American advice to not forcefully send the Albanian mayors of the municipalities to the north who emerged from the April 23 elections boycotted by the Serbian parties, "confounding". He said that there are challenges in bilateral relations related to Prime Minister Albin Kurti and he called painful the thoughts that the United States is directing our relations and commitment to Kosovo for the benefit of Serbia.

“Ne nuk i kemi të njëjtat marrëdhënie me Serbinë si me Kosovën. Serbia nuk është kandidate për anëtarësim në NATO, ajo po kalon një kohë sfiduese në integrimin e vet evropian dhe ne prisnim që Kosova të jetë shumë më larg. Shuma e parave që ne i përdorim për të mbështetur institucionet tuaja, duke përfshirë sigurinë tuaj përmes KFOR-it, nënkupton që kemi një marrëdhënie tjetër. Kjo nuk do thotë që nuk e mbajmë Serbinë përgjegjëse për disa gjëra që po ndodhin dhe ua kemi bërë shumë të qartë se sulmet ndaj KFOR-it janë të papranueshme”, tha zoti Escobar.

Emisarët e SHBA e BE 2 orë takim me Kurtin, 30 minuta me Vuçiçin

New elections in the 4 municipalities of northern Kosovo, the guarantee of Serbian participants in the elections and the formation of the Association. These were the three demands of the European Union which the special envoys, Miroslav Lajçak and Gabriel Escobar, presented to Albin Kurti during the meeting that lasted more than two hours. Lajcak that the talks were long and sincere. While he emphasized that 3 demands of the international community have been presented to Kurt. However, unlike last night's meeting between Escobar and Lajcak with Kurt in Pristina, a meeting that lasted about 2 hours, in Belgrade the one with the Serbian president ended in about half an hour.