Palmer reveals his plan: Russia disappeared from the Balkans

The US special emissary for the Western Balkans has unveiled Washington's strategy for the Balkans before the Senate. Palmer has confirmed that the US goal is for Kosovo and Serbia to recognise each other.

“Washington wants to remove the Balkans from “Russia's hug”, to introduce the countries of the region into NATO, while Serbia and Kosovo are forced to recognise each other as independent countries”, writes the Serbian newspaper Novosti, under which the new “set directed towards Serbia is the resolution with which it is required to clear the case of the Bytyci <5> brothers.

Matthew Palmer, deputy assistant secretary of state and US Special Emissari for the Western Balkans, as RTK broadcasts, has spoken of this strategy in testimony to the Senate and Undersea Foreign Policy Council for Europe, ordering that the top US priority in the Balkans is normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Palmer has said the US expects the new Kosovo government to lift taxes on Serbian products, but at the same time, Belgrade should cease its campaign against Kosovo membership in the international community.

“With the country's promotion campaign to attract recognitions of Kosovo's independence and with its blocking membership in international organisations such as INTERPOL, Belgrade has done harm to police co-operation and destroyed the atmosphere of compromise, which it requires”, has clearly highlighted Palmer.

He has also stressed that this is hindering progress in the agreement Serbia needs to enter the EU.

The US is willing to make more intensified political commitment, but even through economic incentives, help the parties reach the agreement. He criticized her. The EU that, with Albania and Northern Macedonia blocking, sends bad messages to Belgrade and Pristina, that however difficult decisions they must make, they will not approach European society. Such a situation enables Russia and China to strengthen their influence in the Balkans, the senior American official has stressed.

Russia's primary goal is to prevent the region's Euro-Atlantic integration, keep the Balkans divided, weak and dependent on the political support of Moscow and their gas. It wants to prevent the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, for Bosnia and Herzegovina to become a functional state, from obstructing the northern Macedonia path to NATO. Not recognising Kosovo's independence on the part of Serbia is Moscow's main aduty when it comes to Serbia, Palmer concludes.