The American special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, has said that the United States is concerned about the fact that the Government of Kosovo is not treating them as a partner and they are not working for regional security.
In an interview with the Voice of America in Serbian on Friday, Escobar said that the Government of Kosovo is undermining the dialogue in which the US is fully engaged.
"Look, I don't want to get into what all the ramifications are, but, you know, I think our public statements are indicative of how the relationship is going on a diplomatic and political level. So, we are concerned about the fact that the Government of Kosovo is not treating us as a partner. They are not consulting us. They are not working with us on regional security. And most importantly, they are doing things that seem to be undermining the dialogue in which the United States is fully engaged," Escobar said.
The issue of the dinar has provoked great international reactions since the new regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which considers the euro as the only currency, entered into force (February 1). Internationals have called for a transition period because the Serbian community is being harmed. Recently, the European Union has invited the Kosovar and Serbian sides to a meeting on February 27 to discuss the issue of the dinar. But Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has said that the dinar is an internal issue of Kosovo and should not be discussed in dialogue.
But Escobar still has hope that he will convince the Kosovar side to participate in Tuesday's meeting.
"I think we are still in the discussion phase of whether someone will go or who will go. So my understanding was that there is no consideration from the Kosovo side that they will send a representative to discuss the dinar issue. So we still hope to convince them to participate on Tuesday", he added.
According to Escobar, the issue of the dinar could be resolved through the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.
Full interview:
Voice of America: How do you comment on the latest development in the dialogue where Kosovo officials refused to participate in the meeting that the special envoy Miroslav Lajçak has called to discuss the issue of the dinar?
gabriel escobar: I think we are still in the discussion phase of whether someone will go or who will go. So my understanding was that there is no consideration from the Kosovo side that they will send a representative to discuss the dinar issue. So we are still hoping to convince them to attend on Tuesday.
Voice of America: The United States of America has criticized Kosovo many times for the way it implemented the new dinar policy. But aside from the harsh rhetoric, are there any practical consequences for Kurti's government?
Gabriel Escobar: Look, I don't want to go into what all the ramifications are, but, you know, I think our public statements are indicative of how the relationship is going on a diplomatic and political level. So, we are concerned about the fact that the government of Kosovo is not treating us as a partner. They are not consulting us. They are not working with us on regional security. And more importantly, they are doing things that seem to be undermining the dialogue in which the United States is fully engaged.
Voice of America: But how does it happen in practical life? Will the United States stop supporting Kosovo in the international community? Are there any such consequences that are happening now?
gabriel escobar: I think the (American in Pristina Jeff) Ambassador Hovenier said it best when he said, this complicates our capacity to help Kosovo integrate into the transatlantic community. So, whenever we talk about Kosovo with other partners, especially with those who do not know it, their concerns are that Kosovo is not doing what is required by the facilitated dialogue of the European Union, which represents the entire European Union, and why must move forward. So, in other words, it makes it very difficult for us to be able to support Kosovo for many things, including NATO, candidacy for the European Union, the Council of Europe and a number of other organizations. So it's not like we have to decide what kind of consequences, the consequences are self-evident.
Voice of America: Was this new dinar policy part of the dialogue before, was it discussed with Belgrade before because an impression that is being created here is that the United States and the European Union are criticizing the sudden way of implementing the policy, but not the policies themselves. So was it planned to happen at some point anyway? Has it been discussed with Belgrade?
Gabriel Escobar: Yes, there were two things about it. One is that the Association, which is a legal obligation and from our point of view must be implemented, includes the solution of the issue of the transfer of the dinar in a transparent electronic manner according to the laws of Kosovo. So we support it. So in other words, this is a problem that would have been solved with the Association. Now we have some concerns about this: one is the sudden nature of the change in laws. Therefore, responsible institutions do not surprise their citizens with administrative changes that will disrupt daily life. So imagine if our Internal Revenue Service decided one day that it was going to change the tax system without any guidance and without warning, it would create tremendous upheaval for American businesses. Second, they have not reached out to the affected community. So, it is a group of people who depend on social payments from Serbia, who are suddenly surprised by this and there has been no communication, there has been no communication with them from Kosovo. The third is that Kosovo did not offer governmental alternatives. In other words, our embassy has been contacted by several people, including one woman in particular who is 100 percent dependent on social security payments to raise her disabled son, who does not have the capacity to travel to Serbia for to get money and she needs that money to support her son, who has no alternative. So, Kosovo has not offered any governmental alternative. Kosovo rejected efforts by Quint, including the United States, to provide technical assistance to find a payment mechanism that would be transparent and electronic, but that would not prejudice the lives of the people who receive it. The last part is, at the summit in Skopje, the six countries discussed the development of a payment plan that would be compatible with the European Union and would apply to all six countries. So in other words, all they had to do was wait and they would get a transparent system. So it's hard not to look at this decision and criticize it.
Voice of America: Was Belgrade informed about this decision?
Gabriel Escobar: I know they weren't informed about it because we weren't informed.
Voice of America: Are you satisfied with the way Serbia is fulfilling its obligation within the dialogue and what is the next thing expected from Belgrade?
Gabriel Escobar: I mean, Belgrade has some very clear expectations from the dialogue, and they have done some things, including accepting license plates and accepting customs documents. What we want from Serbia is to make it irreversible and formal by introducing it into legislation or regulations. This is expected from Serbia. But apart from that, there are some things that Serbia has promised to do that it hasn't done, including holding accountable the people who were complicit in the attack in Banská on September 24. This is very important. It is not part of the dialogue, but it is very important for regional reconciliation. So we have some expectations for Serbia.
VOA: Would you agree with Assistant Secretary (Jim) O'Brien that by recognizing customs documents and license plates, Serbia has taken two important steps towards recognizing Kosovo. Would you agree with that kind of impression that Serbia is taking these baby steps or slow progress towards the normalization and recognition of Kosovo?
Gabriel Escobar: Yeah, I would agree with Jim (O'Brien) and he's right about that. Now, what we want is for them to be permanent and we want them to be formal.
VOA: As you know, the European Parliament recently passed the resolution calling for an independent international investigation into the irregularities in the Serbian elections, which, by the way, were also documented by ODIHR and local observers. So does the United States stand with its European allies on this issue in demanding an independent investigation?
Gabriel Escobar: What we are asking is that the ODIHR report was sufficiently complete and was sufficiently fair. And what we said is that ODIHR, that report, which we have already said we stand behind and support, makes some very clear recommendations and has highlighted some very clear shortcomings in the electoral process in Serbia. So, our position is that they should be fixed and they should be fixed before the next elections, be they national or municipal.
Voice of America: But does the United States support the European Parliament in its request?
Gabriel Escobar: The European Parliament is a diverse organization that is independent in its mandate from the European Union, the European Commission, the European Council. So our engagement has been through Quint and with ODIHR. We had no input into that resolution. But we share similar concerns that the ODIHR report pointed out some shortcomings that need to be corrected in relation to these concerns.
VOA: Can the next Serbian government be a legitimate partner of the US, given that the election results were contested by EU institutions such as the European Parliament, the Serbian opposition and part of the Serbian people?
Gabriel Escobar: I think it is important that in Serbia there is a legal process where the opposition expands its concerns. We want those institutions to do their job and take those complaints seriously. But moving forward, whichever government is formed, we expect that government to strengthen democratic institutions within Serbia, continue to engage in dialogue and continue to move towards European integration. And I think that these are aspirations for all the people of Serbia and for the whole spectrum, except for a small minority on the extreme right of the political spectrum, which, by the way, did very badly in the elections.
VOA: So what are the US expectations from the new government in Serbia, other than what you said, but that means more as a foreign policy opinion? So, given that the main right-wing, pro-Russian parties remain out of parliament, do you expect the new government to impose sanctions on Russia, be more pro-Western?
Gabriel Escobar: First, yes, I mean, we would like the new government to continue its path towards European integration, which means orientation towards the West. We have always said that we think it is a good idea for Serbia to impose sanctions on Russia, and we believe that regional stability includes moving forward in dialogue. We will absolutely have certain expectations from the new government and we will have certain aspirations for our relations with the new government.
VOA: How would you rate the current Russian influence in Serbia? Would you say it is stronger or weaker compared to, say, two years ago when the war in Ukraine started?
Gabriel Escobar: Russian influence in Serbia is still quite strong, in Serbia it still enjoys some popular support, there are some politicians, even within this government who are very pro-Russian and there are many, many people who have been quite useless in that relationship. This is not a reflection on the entire government. But I would say there are some people, including the former director of the BIA, who was extremely, openly and proudly supportive of Russia and what they're doing in Ukraine.
Voice of America: Do you think Mr. (Aleksandar) Vulin will be part of a future government?
Gabriel Escobar: I don't think he was the only one who was pro-Russian.
