Havenier talks about the barricades: No secret messages, we asked the Government for patience, we found a political solution

US Ambassador Jeff Hovenier has talked about the tense situation that was created in northern Kosovo, writes Periscopi.

Asked by Periscope if they advised Kurt not to rush in with his actions, Havenier said Kurti has been asked patience about calming the situation in that part.

I would say that my advice for the Government of Kosovo is a public matter. We don't have secret messages for them that distinguish from what we publicly say. It's no secret that we've wanted more time in implementing the fine decision for people who haven't changed the plates. But we're beyond that right now. I need to state some steps the Government of Kosovo has taken. While we had another view of the deadline for the license plates, ultimately the Government of Kosovo, even later, but agreed with it. At this point, the government does not fine people who have not changed the plates, nor does it give a warning, and this was an attempt to de-excedent the situation. When the barricades happened, that was a very difficult thing and the US issued an extremely powerful statement, referring to what they are, that those who have put illegal barricades on the road should immediately withdraw them. We were clear about that. We have also told the Government in private and publicly that we want patience, that moving too fast and unilaterally would complicate the situation more than improve it. The government heard that. From our perspective, Prime Minister Kurti and Government indicated the patience we have been looking for while we were resolving this. We wanted a political solution to that. My colleague in Belgrade, Ambassador Hill was clear on this and he's right. And eventually a political solution was found. It took patience, hard work but it was achieved and I think we can all agree that the way the barricades were removed, with some exceptions today, is much more preferable than the use of force that could result in hurt or far from being killed. So, I'll say there have been answers from the Government of Kosovo to some of our concerns, and there have also been some moments that we have had very different attitudes for some of these case best ways,venier said.