David Philips: Besides the US, it could push ahead of final Kosovo- Serbia

Philips, at a table organised by the LDK on the subject “Fugiting the sovereignty and independence of Kosovo”, expressed his conviction that the final agreement would result in mutual recognition.

He also spoke of agreements reached in Brussels, which he said were not fully implemented.

“Only The US has the capacity to impose an agreement, to implement an agreement, and through its diplomacy and mediation to join transatlantic co-operation and to send a very clear message to Belgrade, much more, this process must be completed, must be concluded fairly for the people of Kosovo. If we don't get to that point, Serbia itself can't develop as a society and we all want this part of the world to move forward in order to have progress and co-operation. And so, the US can strengthen its alliances, primarily with the Republic of Kosovo, but also with all countries in the region”, Philips said.

He argued that the EU is the main mediator, but stressed that the US should improve its participation.

Philips voiced doubts whether the EU can pressure Serbia to recognise Kosovo, as EU Special Representative for Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak is Slovak and Slovakia has not recognised Kosovo's independence.

According to him, at these meetings there should not be a deputy secretary or deputy secretary, but it would be useful for President Joe Biden to appoint a special presidential envoy in order to increase pressure on these discussions and achieve results.

I also have some questions about EU credibility as mediator. If the EU wants to demonstrate a sincere desire to help Kosovo, what has happened to visa liberalisation from the EU? Why is this discussion continuing for years without results? Mr. Lajcak is a good man, he is a competent diplomat, he is also a Slovak, and we know Slovakia is one of the five states that have not recognised Kosovo. So, can we really expect the EU to pressure Serbia to recognise Kosovo and further this” process, Philips said.

He said the US wants an agreement with mutual recognition so that both states -- Kosovo and Serbia -- can move forward.

Our “objectives are independence, sovereignty and mutual recognition. Details of bilateral issues can be addressed, but if Serbia is not prepared to admit that it lost Kosovo because of Milosevic's crimes, we will not be able to move forward. And we will find that there are still possible misunderstandings and conflicts in this region. The US wants you to succeed, wants a mutual agreement, so both Kosovo and Serbia can move forward, so that there is peace and prosperity for people of both countries”, he said.

Philips also cited agreements reached between the two states, but said failure to implement the same stands entirely on the part of Serbs.

The “has spoken a lot in Brussels, there have been 33 agreements that have been reached over the years. I conducted a study at Columbia University and did research on Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. And what I found was that those agreements were not fully implemented and their failure to implement was almost entirely on the Serbian side. Instead of addressing the fundamental issues of recognising Kosovo's independence, such as preparing the ground for mutual recognition, in my opinion, Serbia has entered into this dialogue, not to find a solution, but as a delay tactic, as a way to postpone something that is inevitable, which is full recognition of the Republic of Kosovo”, Philips said.

While Teuta Sahatqi from the Democratic League of Kosovo said that after Washington's agreement last year, the interest of international partners has increased until he said they are now at a time when dialogue must be finalised.

“in 2008 Kosovo declared independence, we had many recognitions, but in recent years the number of recognitions fell far and even began with some issue of recognition, even though it does not exist as notions in diplomacy. Our partners' interests were low in intensity, and after Washington's agreement last year, we saw an increase in interest level, and we are at a time when dialogue should be finalised”, she said.

It warned that the LDK will consistently organise such debates in order to be more comprehensive.