Kosovo, Serbia welcome Palmer's appointment, US Special Representative for Balkans

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to appoint Palmer to this position has been welcomed by Pristina and Belgrade, KTV reports.

For Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, the move implies US additional commitment to integration into the Balkans.

“Welcome the increased US role in the integration of Kosovo and our entire region at the Euro-Atlantic states Club”, Thaci wrote.

Kosovo's top diplomat in resignation, Behgjet Pacolli, has said Palmer is Kosovo's great friend and supporter of its integration into NATO, the EU and the UN.

“His experience and knowledge of the region is valid and necessary at a time when the region must progress in terms of good neighbourly and Euro-Atlantic integration”, Pacolli wrote on Facebook.

And Pacolli's Serbian counterpart, Ivica Dacic, sees this appointment as a sign that the US administration wants to find a solution for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

Dacic has said on Serbia's public television that the format of dialogue in Brussels will not change.

This is a sign that the United States wants to formalise in some way what they are saying constantly, and that means encouraging a quick solution to the issue, namely, to encourage all parties in the Western Balkans to build regional peace and stability”, he said.

U.S. State Department announced that as Special Representative, Matthew Palmer, on September one, will go to Slovenia to attend the Bled Strategic Forum.

He will also represent the United States at the Quint Balkan Directors' meeting in Brussels and will participate in meetings to be held in Vienna and Podgorica, respectively, on 4 September and 10 September.