Serbia gives millions to the American company to lobby against Kosovo, Vuciq: We hired him for the tax.

This lobbying campaign against the state of Kosovo has intensified even more in recent years. At the end of March of this year, Serbia's state has engaged an American company to lobby in the United States. Serbia's authorities have signed contracts with the Clair Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP company, reports Voice of America in Serbian.

As stated in an official document that was presented to the US Department of Justice, this company will lobby for Serbia “for all parties interested in the US, on specific regional co-operation issues” involving the client ) in this case Serbia dealt with Kosovo.

In this document published by the Foreign Agents Record Act (FARA), which is the contract between the company in question and Serbia's State Prosecutor's Office, there is no indication of how much Serbia will pay for the services of this company.

But, media in Belgrade quote Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq, who, according to them, has stated that it is not about lobbying deals, but about talks with this company about arbitration procedures against Pristina concerning the 100 per cent customs tariff which the Kosovo government is implementing against imports from Serbia. Vuciq was quoted as saying Belgrade had chosen just one company that also has headquarters in Brussels and Paris, except for Washington.

This has nothing to do with lobby in Washington”, Vuciq was quoted.

But, no matter what agreement has been reached on this case, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has in many cases declared that he works without interruption in the lobby against Kosovo recognition or even in the lobby to convince the designated states to withdraw recognitions.

In the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they have not provided any answers to Kosovo's diplomatic activity under the lobby, whether for new recognition or for membership in international organisations and mechanisms.

Meanwhile, the head of Serbia's Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Affairs, Diaspore and Strategic Investment, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, says Serbia's continued lobbiing is damaging Kosovo in the international arena. The LDK MP told Radio Free Europe that the fundamental problem in the failure and failure of Kosovo diplomacy lies in, as she said, the abuses that have taken place with money that has been split for lobby.

According to her, Kosovo's foreign policy should not be out of line in attitudes, especially on the border issue, as this issue raised even in negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade in Brussels, according to MP Osmani-Sadriu, has greatly damaged Kosovo in the international arena.

In many cases, these tools have been used to advance specific persons and not advance Kosovo's interests. And of course, in such cases, Serbia is particularly successful when we talk about regions or states that have not recognised the Republic of Kosovo. So, despite the fact that they've been given a lot of money for lobbying, misusing them or noting them well, it has led to success”, said MP Osmani-Sadriu.

Meanwhile, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj, at the same time deputy chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, told Radio Free Europe, that Kosovo's state or Kosovo diplomacy should be more active in any possible country.

Belgrade's wild lobby form, according to former Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, is no surprise move. According to him, Serbia, beyond open diplomatic actions against Kosovo's citizenship, has also taken secret actions to undermine Kosovo in the world.

Our response is, more work in the international arena, more commitment to various lobbie groups as well, since in the 20th century, all those objectives cannot be met only with the work that the Government of Kosovo does, our missions, but there must be others that help us in this direction. We must strengthen our position further into the Western world”, Hoxhaj said.

Kosovo over the years has engaged international consultancy companies to lobby on the powerful states, which companies have been paid millions of euros from the state budget. Months ago, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci had committed one of the most popular lobbyists in Washington, Brian Ballard, who paid about $1.2m for the service.

This company, according to a response the Presidency Office for Radio Free Europe, will support Kosovo initiatives, which deal with meeting the past, will help create a new dynamic in the reconciliation process, but also in other processes such as modernising and transforming the Kosovo Security Force into multiethnic forces.

And before contracting with Ballard, for Kosovo, Tony Podesta, the brother of John Podestas, who was head of staff at President Bill Clinton's administration, and later chief of the Hilary Clinton company. Kosovo had paid “Group” around 50,000 euros a month for lobbiing.

During the time when Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj was in 2017, Kosovo had also committed to lobby “Alston & Bird LLP” for strategic consultations concerning Kosovo's reports with the U.S. Government and Congress. For these services, Kosovo had paid this company $780,000. The deal had lasted from 01.03,2017 to 28,02,2018.

The agreement on behalf of this company was signed by the prominent U.S. Senator Robert Dole. The same company had an earlier agreement with former President Ibrahim Rugova, worth $360,000 during 2003.

In some cases, the company “Patton Boggs” has lobbied for Kosovo in the US. Otherwise, Kosovo has been paying for lobby since 1992.

Based on official data, Kosovo has 116 recognitions from various states, but this number cannot be confirmed at the time when Serbia has published paperwork from several countries, which have reportedly declared attracting recognition of the state of Kosovo. These states, which are puzzled about recognising Kosovo or even those expected to recognise Kosovo as a state, are believed to be awaiting the outcome of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia and the achievement of a final agreement.

Being like a state that has yet to round up international subjectivity, Kosovo has not yet secured its seat in the United Nations Organisation, while not yet having the unique support of the European Union, because five EU member states do not recognise it as a state.