Engel: Trump administration using tough tactics towards Kosovo

Congresswoman Eliot Engel, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives, has expressed his concern about the Trump administration's approach to Kosovo.

Through a statement, he has also said that the tariffs are each state's legitimate tool, broadcast the KOHA.

Engel's Complete Declaration:

To say that the US and Kosovo have a warm and close report would be underestimating the depth of our ties. The US has led the campaign to stop Milosevic's genocide ethnic cleansing and has been the most influential and consistent friend of the sovereign and independent Republic of Kosovo. I have visited Kosovo many times and can say with confidence that Americans are no longer warmly expected elsewhere in the world.

I was proud to be a partner of Kosovo governments, led by various political parties. I don't take sides over who should lead Kosovo. It is this decision of the people of Kosovo. I'll always work with what they choose.

Therefore, I am increasingly concerned with the harsh tactics the Trump administration is using against Pristina. The State Department has now demanded as long as Kosovo has lifted the tariffs. But this administration used economic penalties just a few weeks after government Kurti took office. Instead of leaving the new government, which was facing the pandemic, to meet the ranks of its agencies and establish internal procedures, the US contributed to a political crisis in Pristina, about tariffs on Serbia.

There are many reasons why Kosovo must lift tariffs, in the first place the cause that they are doing more harm than they are offering any leverage to reach any peaceful agreement with Serbia. In any case, tariffs are the legitimate tool of a sovereign state. As such, they have been placed worldwide by President Trump, both against friends and enemies, for economic and political causes.

Instead of using strict tactics with a friendly state, which is based on our support, the US has had to work patiently with Government now at the evacuation of Kosovo how it was trying to work with the previous Government of Kosovo to improve policies that promote long-term prosperity and peace. A strict approach to a small democracy is a work of indignation, not of a prudent partner. However, I will continue to work with that government that the people of Kosovo choose, now and in the future.

Moreover, the pressure put on Pristina for its tariffs is highly unbalanized. Serbian diplomats are strolling the globe to encourage states to recognise Kosovo, and Serbia is deepening its reports with Moscow while buying significant amounts of Russian weapons. In fact, according to the U.S. Counter-Spurge Act through Sanctions (CAATSA), approved by Congress after the Russian intervention in the 2016 elections, these weapons purchases require the administration to impose sanctions on Serbia. Neither have we imposed these sanctions nor urged Serbia more powerfully to end its efforts to recognise.

Something is wrong with American politics and we have to correct it. We should start with rebalancing our approaches to Serbia and Kosovo. We must cooperate with our European allies, to address both states as independent and sovereign partners, using the same standards for both sides as we try to resume peaceful talks. When US law says we should impose sanctions on Serbia because of its security ties with Russia, then we should.

In addition, the US should resume its assistance immediately through the MCC. The MCC model is based on objective indicators based on data and an underlying settlement reached in the agreement between the US and the member states. Using this aid as binding for actions that are not related to the MCC or its mission turns this agency into another means of exercising pressure by turning it into exactly what is intended not to be”