Escobar: Vuciq told me it would influence to convince Serbs to participate in elections

The United States' special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said the situation in northern Kosovo should be intensified immediately.
“Leaders should not exploit [communal] buildings, Kosovo police should withdraw from the surrounding area [these] buildings and protesters should leave”, Escobar said during a conference for reporters in Belgrade.

“Hopefully there will be new elections and we want Serbs to participate without preconditions”, he added.
Escobar said Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, has assured him he would exploit his influence to convince Serbs to participate in the evental elections.

The biggest challenge for Serbia is to persuade Serbs to return to [Kosovo's] institutions. Now this is where I think we're on the line with Serebians. We need to make sure that those who participate in the elections and Serbs who return to institutions are welcome”, the senior American official said.

Asked whether there is any response from Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti regarding the European proposal for the extension of the situation in the north, Escobar said that discussions between the Government of Kosovo and EU special representative for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajcak would continue even after the latter left Belgrade today.

“I don't know if there has been any concrete response from the Kosovo government. I hope the Kosovo government understands that what we are trying to achieve is a stable and mutually useful result for both countries”, Escobar said.

He said Kosovo and Serbia should turn to dialogue for normalisation of relations, because “in case they were to turn their backs on it, they would turn their backs on Europe”.
This, in itself, is a very serious consequence”, he said.