A group of Kosovo NGOs writes paper, requires America to consider Kosovo's failure to join Sam.

Radio Free Europe has provided the letter from civil society representatives, which has been sent to US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia at the same time to envoys for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar and the Commissioner for Democracy and Human Rights at the Council of National Security, Chanthi Kalathil, in which they gave their reasons why Kosovo should be part of this initiative.

The truth of this letter has confirmed to Radio Free Europe one of its signatories, Agon Maliqi, chairman of the board of nonprofit platforms, Sbonker.

“We are aware of the delicate context of security in the Balkans, which produces deep ethnic divisions and often instability. However, given the continued progress Kosovo has made over the years to build democracy, but also the special reports between the people of Kosovo and the United States, we believe Kosovo deserves to be part of this strategic initiative and would benefit from the same”, the letter says.

According to a list published by Politico, from the Western Balkan states, neither Serbia nor Bosnia and Herzegovina has been invited to this summit.

On the other hand, Albania, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia have been invited.

The guest list still remains at the level of informal information.

Civil society organisations have suggested that Kosovo is one of the states in the region that is concerned about malicious authoritarianism, as well as the influence of China and Russia.

“We also understand, and in some cases we share the anger that the United States has with the political elites of Kosovo, yet we cannot see any difference in the US-Kosovo reports that are essentially condratictic, which would make Kosovo deserve exemption from the pro-democracy world camp. We strongly believe that Kosovo's participation in the summit would help advance democracy and human rights in our state and strengthen our efforts to hold institutions accountable. Therefore, we hope the U.S. Government will be willing to review this decision”, said among other things in the letter of nongovernmental organisations.

The signing of this letter, sent to top American officials, are the Balkan Group for Politics, the Balkan Forum, Democracy Plus, Democracy for Development, the Kosovo Institute for European Policy, the GAP Institute for Humanitarian Law, the Institute for Social Policy “Musine Cocalarie”, the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies, the Kosovar Foundation for Civil Society, the Kosovo Democratic Institute of Kosovo, the Kosovar Institute for Research and Development of Kosovo Women, the Kosovo Institute for Justice, the FOL Movement, the Pristina Institute for Political Studies, the Sbuker Institute for Social Studies, Inc. and the European Research Group for the Balkans.

However, civil society in Kosovo is not the only one concerned about not including this country in Sam.

According to a Reuters news agency report, there are other countries that have expressed dissatisfaction with the guest list, which has been confirmed to this agency by a senior American official involved in planning.

According to him, invitations have been sent to countries that have different experiences with democracy, and it has nothing to do with labeling a state whether it is democratic or not.

The American Embassy in Pristina has told local media in Kosovo that not all partners have been able to accommodate themselves in this initiative.

The aim has been to unite a regional and socioeconomic group of countries and jurisdictions, including the most developed and developed democracies with diversity in population, demographic and location”, is said in the Embassy's response. Among other things, it has been said that the US continues to be committed to working with Kosovo at other forums to advance in strengthening democracy.

Professor Edward P. Joseph from Johns Hopkins University in Washington has told Radio Free Europe that there can be no comparison, much less draw parallels between Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kosovo, ironically, is such a young state, but is also one of the most powerful democracies in the Balkans, with a multiparty system, with free media, with a government fighting corruption and organised crime. And these actions are contrary to trends in the region. There are autocratic trends in Serbia. Kosovo cannot be compared even to the dysfunction in Bosnia”.

He has said he does not know whether the reason for the lack of invitation is the Kosovo authorities' decision to cut off the project to build gas infrastructure financed by the US Government's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

In some cases, the lack of progress in the Kosovo dialogue has also been cited as one of the causes that may have prompted the expulsion of these two countries from the summit, but for Mr. Joseph this question prompts another...

Why has there been little progress in this process? This requires more clarification”, Joseph said.

According to him, Kosovo has met the required standard for democracy, as well as emphasised the fact that Kosovo is a country with powerful orientation towards the European Union, the United States and NATO.

The summit for democracy will have three key topics: protection against authoritarianism, address and fight corruption and advance respect for human rights.

After the first meeting and consultations on it, Biden will invite world leaders again to discuss the progress made.