15 minutes agoJoseph: Belgrade's position weakened following attack on Banjska
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)After the events in Banjska, the movements of Serbia's president, instead of calming the situation, created a new escalation, says about RTK at Edward P. Joseph, talker at the University “Johns Hopkins” in Washington. Stressing the need to investigate Banjska, Joseph recalls the White House assessment that he was not a group [...]
After the events in Banjska, the movements of Serbia's president, instead of calming the situation, created a new escalation, says about RTK at Edward P. Joseph, talker at the University “Johns Hopkins” in Washington.
Stressing the need to investigate Banjska, Joseph recalls the White House assessment that he was not an ordinary ad-hoc group.
“We already know what President Vuciq did after 24 September, and I'm asking whether Vuciki's movements are escalation instead of calming. Vucin has escalated the situation further. The Serbian Orthodox Church had also distanced itself, expressing its condolences on the case of the murdered policeman. But the announcement of three-day mourning, the harsh language of prodding Albin Kurt to Serbian media, sending weapons to the border with Kosovo, is a clear escalation of Alexander Vuciqi, who immediately after Banjska met with Russian Ambassador”, he said.
Joseph believes that following the attack on Banjska, Belgrade's position has weakened and now belongs to Washington and Brussels to exert stronger pressure on Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq.
I believe that it is essential to take advantage of this situation with sanctions threats and the fact that President Vuciq is on a defansive. I remember that the EU called it a terrorist attack. That means Vuciq is now in a vulnerable position. The EU and the US should take advantage of this and present to the parties a document “take it or leave it”, with clear implementation, including steps Belgrade should take, so that implementation is equal to”, Joseph said.
Asked what can be expected from the visit of special envoys, Joseph says concrete steps must be sought.
Their “Mission should be based on what is needed to move things forward and to ask President Vuciq to sign it, that Serbia should not block Kosovo, and that it supports Kosovo's EU membership process”, he added.
According to Joseph, it has now been possible for the international community to seek full implementation of what is agreed on in Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. /rtk
