On the eve of the expiration of the moratorium established a year ago, the United States has encouraged the parties to consider the possibility of its continuation. The importance of finalizing the Brussels dialogue with a comprehensive agreement has been mentioned as a reason. The Government of Kosovo has not indicated whether this suggestion of the Americans will be considered
The US State Department has encouraged Kosovo and Serbia to continue with the moratorium on the issues of recognition and applications in international organizations due to eventual complications in the dialogue process. This is what officials of the US Department have told TIME, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Washington Agreement.
“To support the success of the dialogue and other efforts, we encourage both sides to maintain their moratoriums on recognition issues that complicate progress in technical areas. We are continuing to work with Kosovo and Serbia to implement their commitments in support of the goal of comprehensive normalization of relations. The United States is ready to support work toward a comprehensive and binding normalization agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, centered on mutual recognition, which lays the foundation for lasting cooperation and prosperity," the response reads.
The US has offered support for the dialogue facilitated by the European Union, calling on Kosovo and Serbia to re-engage in this process. Likewise, it has been requested to respect in good faith the commitments reached in Washington last year.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not indicated whether this suggestion of the Americans will be considered. But a day earlier, they said that they are following the developments around the organizations in order to prepare the process for membership in some of them.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kurti in an interview for "European Western Balkans" has mentioned that there are two different texts and two unilateral commitments from Kosovo and Serbia in Washington. According to him, some points are problematic for the Constitution of Kosovo.
"We don't want to deny it in principle, but at the same time we have to be careful, because there are also some points that are problematic for our Constitution that were signed as a pledge by the previous prime minister. Just to mention, the fact that we will not lobby and commit to membership in international organizations. This goes against the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo", he declared.
The Washington agreement was signed a year ago in the Oval Office by the former prime minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti, and the Serbian president, Aleksandër Vucic, in the presence of former president Donald Trump.
