Cooper: Failure to reach agreement, Kosovo, Serbia show how weak they are

He spoke of Voice of America immediately after a series of visits by European Union special envoy Miroslav Lajcak to Belgrade and Pristina, where he said there is no time to lose and that the dynamic dialogue for normalisation of relations should start as soon as possible.

Cooper says he has the impression that Serbia and Kosovo, as he says, are perfectly satisfied with the fact that there is a problem between them, broadcasts Reporter.net.

The “seems to see no particular danger in this and do not worry. It's like they enjoy media attention, bomb statements, and the appearance of supposed force. But, failing to reach agreement, they actually show how weak they are”, he said in an interview for the Voice of America in the Serbian language.

The retired British diplomat sees it as an excellent opportunity to reach a comprehensive agreement on normalising relations between Serbia and Kosovo, based on the Franco-German proposal supported by the European Union.

I think they have the capacity to reach an agreement. The question, however, is whether they really want to reach agreement.

Priorities or benefits are that all can return to normal life and that would create conditions for resolving some other problems, as well as opportunities for Kosovo and Serbia's membership in the European Union. There is an obvious problem with Kosovo's north, where a minority who feels rejected lives because it believes it is in a foreign country that does not think it belongs. Throughout Europe, solutions were found for people who, as it were, found in the wrong place as they once thought - German speakers in Alsace, France. The way to resolve it is to convince citizens that it doesn't matter which state they're in, he says, among other things.