The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard on Thursday that neither Kosovo nor Serbia were making much effort to implement the EU-brokered deal on normalisation of relations. State Department Counsellor Derek Chollet warned that neither party was making much effort to implement the agreement, which is considered legally binding by the EU and the US. One of the main stumbling blocks is Kosovo’s implementation of an autonomous Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo. The US special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, tried to assure Kosovo that the association would not undermine the country’s integrity, but many Kosovars worry about the creation of another Republika Srpska, which takes little heed of Bosnia’s state-level government. In early May, Kosovo’s Kurti refused to accept a draft statute for the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, claiming it would establish an entity like Republika Srpska.
Robert Menendez asked Escobar and Chollet what the US was doing to address the rights of the Albanian minority in Serbia. Escobar said the US embassy in Belgrade was committed to this issue and was using USAID money to provide critical protection for Albanians. Bosnia is considered the second biggest issue in the Western Balkans by the US, and Escobar said the use of so-called „Bonn-Powers” by Bosnia’s international envoy was a difficult but necessary decision. He said the US will strive to dissuade Dodik from divisive rhetoric and secessionist tendencies.
CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE NEWS
Kosovo and Serbia Drag Feet on EU Imposed Friendship Agreement
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