Wilson: Serbia to recognise Kosovo independence

“With political leaders with vision and co-ordinated support from America and Europe, there is now the historic chance that Serbia and Kosovo reach agreement”, Wilson has said of the “The Voice of America”, the Serbian-language edition.

He adds it would be better to resolve the issue before America enters new elections.

Wilson says the solution between Kosovo and Serbia must come soon, though he says there is no deadline.

There's a historical perspective, there are political leaders who have vision to do this and understand how important it is, we have coordinated support from Europe and Washington, even when there are differences, but at strategic level, the US and the EU here want to help. Now is the moment, because everyone gets into electoral processes, everyone wants to wrap this up before the attention gets turned into elections”, said Wilson, broadcast Koha.net.

Asked whether Serbia will ever recognise Kosovo's independence, Atlantic Council Deputy Executive Chairman Damon Wilson said that “I believe it is”.

But that's gonna happen. It must be part of the package that responds to Serbia as well. This is an opportunity for Serbia to develop its economy, improve its workforce potential and enable better future for those who want to live in their country, and thus speed up the road to the EU. Not to be completely politically stuck in the Kosovo issue, but to be oriented towards preparing the country for participation in the global economy. I think Serbian leaders understand that it is in Serbia's interest not to leave wounds open, but to achieve reconciliation and normalisation and to think about its future. This is an occasion for Serbia to focus on the future, but it now calls for making major decisions in relation to Kosovo. And in the current political calendar there is the possibility for this”, he said.

He says the current Serbian government is able to take responsibility for the historic decision to recognise Kosovo, as it says the <x0riders have clearly suggested this is the right moment for this to be done and for the agreement to be good”.

There is no doubt that Kosovo's tariffs have cut much, and thus we have returned to the status quo. The tariff must be removed, and aggressive efforts must be halted to prevent recognitions of Kosovo's independence and its membership in international organisations”, he says, while adding that “diplomatic fire strategy should occur and focus on serious issues for mutual reconciliation at the chat table”.

“If you only think about what the price is (of recognising Kosovo's independence) -- what Serbia can give Kosovo or vice versa -- this is of little importance, it's particles. The cake gets smaller and smaller if there is reconciliation, the economy scans as long as there is clear perspective for the EU. That cake shrinks until you fight over who gets it. The goal is to become a bigger cake and to have both sides take a good part where you will include EU investments, infrastructure plans, US support for private business. Let America be part of creating a security picture in the region, but also for Serbs who remain living in Kosovo. I think that the president (serb) Vuciq has sincerely told citizens what the status-quo price is, while now it is a chance to talk about what can be achieved by agreement and not just what Kosovo will offer, but also about the possibilities that turn into reality foreign investment, EU membership, historical reconciliation with the US. It's a great vision I would like to accept from Serbian leaders”, Damon Wilson stressed.

According to him, if Vuciqi were the politician who would recognise Kosovo's independence, he would survive politically.

It also says that the presidents of Kosovo and Serbia, Thaci and Vuciq, have noted great progress and that they are close to the agreement.

They worked on important things and got well done, as did Federica Moghrin's team. It's done a lot, it doesn't start from the beginning, but it doesn't mean we have a deal, and it doesn't even block Merkel. We're not done yet. The agreement is agreement and must be something that both sides support, which also support their governments, which turned out to be a challenge to Kosovo. But they also have to win the support of international partners, and thus still we have agreements”, he said, concluding that Serbia and Kosovo's <x2riders have done a lot of work, and we have to give them an incentive to come up to the” agreement.