Montgomery: US committed to co-operating with the EU for Kosovo- Serbia

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Molly Montgomery comes as Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti is expected to be Kosovo's next prime minister after his party's victory in the February 14th elections.

When asked about the possibility of a dialogue mediated by the United States, Montgomery told the Voice of America that: “We continue to support the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue enabled by the European Union, and we look forward to a comprehensive agreement, a normalisation agreement that would lead to mutual recognition, or on the basis of mutual recognition. ”

Has the prospect of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue waned?

Molly Montgomery: We continue to support the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue enabled by the European Union, and look forward to a comprehensive agreement -- a normalisation agreement that would lead to mutual recognition, or mutual recognition. This will be our goal toward the future.

Do you see a Serbia-Kosovo dialogue mediated by Washington, independent of a European Union parallel effort in the administration of President Beden?

Molly Montgomery: We are committed to working with the EU that is enabling dialogue, and with our partners together. It's a very important principle for our engagement in the Western Balkans. We know we've been more successful there when cooperation has been close to our European allies and partners, so this will be our approach.

US to carefully monitor agreement between EU and China on investments

The United States will carefully review China's commitments on an investment agreement signed last December between the European Union and China, Mrs. Montgomery told Voice of America.

This comes as President Joe Biden's administration is working closely with European allies to oppose what American officials describe as China's activities to undermine common values and regulations based on international order.

If China made additional concessions to that deal for things like access to the market, or forced labour, we would certainly welcome it. But we would hold China responsible for such commitments, that they implement them”, the deputy secretary of the State Department for European and Eurasian Affairs said.

The comprehensive EU-Kine Investment Agreement is seen as a geopolitical victory for China and a blow to transatlantic relations, despite concerns in the European Parliament over the agreement.

What is the main priority of the Bureau for European and Eurasian Affairs policies in the coming years?

Molly Montgomery: The president has made it very clear, beginning with the inauguration speech, that our priority is to rebuild relations with our allies and partners in Europe. We believe that they are the cornerstone of all that we are trying to do, whether the fight against Corleone, climate change or countering malicious activities from Russia and China. We want to work with our European partners. But we will also, I will say, continue to believe that our goal for Europe is a whole, free, prosperous and at peace. We will work towards that goal for the next four years.

While China is competing with the United States for the distribution of vaccine and recovery from pandemic in Europe, what is your comment about the CHINA-CEEC group, also known as the virtual high-level meeting “17 plus 1” between China and Central and Eastern European countries?

Molly Montgomery: I think all countries, whether the United States or Europe, have a very complex relationship with China. There are parts of that relationship that are controversial. Some of them are competitive and there are areas where we want to cooperate with China. So I think our multilateral work focus with our allies and partners to strengthen co-operation and find areas where we can co-operate with China, such as climate change, but also be aware that there are economic activities that we need to counter. There are threats to our values and there are human rights violations, such as those in Xinjang and Hong Kong. And especially genocide, (which) the American government has expressed very clearly, has been committed against the mainly Muslim population in China. We are really focused on working with our allies and partners to develop a common agenda as we examine this complex relationship with China and protect our common values and interests.

We are hearing rumours from European countries expressing doubts that America is wavering from its stance that genocide was committed against the water population in Xinjiang. Is the United States' attitude wavering?

Molly Montgomery: The United States has been very clear. Secretary Blinken has been very clear that what happened in Xinjiang is genocide, that crimes against humanity have been committed against the water population. We have been very clear that these are very serious crimes and must be responsible. We've condemned these activities, these crimes and made it clear that we want to see a ban on these human rights violations, on forced sterilization, torture, and other crimes committed against the river population in Xinjang.

Let's talk about distributing vaccines. Serbia and Hungary have become the first European countries to use China's vaccine against Coronavirus. Meanwhile, many European countries rely on vaccine produced by the American company Pfizer. Is There a Breakup? Are the United States pushing European countries to choose between Washington and Beijing?

Molly Montgomery: No. We're not asking people to choose between the United States and China. At the same time, we believe that we are stronger when we work together to protect our common values and interests. For this reason, since the first month of coming to power, the administration has been deeply committed that multilateral forums (to work) with allies and partners, as well as with countries like China, to promote global health security. We want to work together to end this pandemic. We also know that China uses the multilateral system to promote its interests to undermine some of our common values. So we want to work very closely with our partners and our allies to protect these interests, and to challenge the international rule mine from China.

How much trust do the United States have to work with European allies for a unified approach to China after the investment agreement between the European Union and China? Did the United States get caught in its pledge?

Molly Montgomery: We look forward to consulting the European Union on the investment agreement. As Secretary Blinken said, our allies have surely heard that we are eager to find areas where we can co-operate with China, based on our common values and promote our common interests.