Hill: The recent crisis does not mean ignoring association

Hill stresses that association must be made to reach a political solution.

I think there are exactly those elements on the table that belong there, and I know it's hard to focus on them, especially when we've seen the crisis in the last few days, but the crisis doesn't mean you can ignore what you have, we have to do, which is to reach a political solution”, Hill stressed.

He stressed that it is in US interest to continue finding a political solution “based on clear elements that are part of the agreement reached 5-6 months ago”.

“We wanted to see the formation of the Serb majority Communist Association. It is fair to say that Kurti is not enthusiastic about this, but I think he understands he is one of the key elements on the table, as we should continue with internationalisation, which implies the possibility of Kosovo's membership in various international organisations. These are not easy steps for the Serbian side, but are part of the overall accord”, Hill said.

He added that all need calming tensions and understanding that soon Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo will have to find a way to live as neighbours.

“These kinds of crises should be replaced by a political process that makes everyone feel comfortable so that when they wake up in the morning they don't worry about security problems. We intend to do this”, Hill said.

Asked about the future of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and the agreement from Brussels and Ohrid, the US ambassador stresses that, “whatsoever is difficult to be the dialogue for participants, we must continue”.

“As for the role of the US, we are very committed to dialogue, we are in daily contact with all sides, but especially with our partners from the European Union. I think everyone in the Balkans should understand that America and the European Union have a lot of things that they have to do together and we will do together. So, we will not be divided for things like Kosovo, we will be united.

“I think that we will go back to the process of dialogue and Mr. Lajcak, who has carried a heavy burden to do this, will definitely have to keep doing this for a while,” said Hill.

He added that the US are absolutely committed to the success of the dialogue process because they believe it is the only way to move forward.