2 minutes agoVoice of America: US-Kosovo diplomatic clash obscures bilateral relations
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)The United States and Kosovo are continuing the unusual public row after the prime minister of the US's staunch ally state resisted calls to take steps that the West says will be needed for de-excedentation of ethnic tensions in northern Kosovo, wrote the Voice of America's English-language service. VoA further explains [...]
VoA further explains that US special envoy Gabriel Escobar has named Albin Kurti unflexible and unco-operative, while Kurti has complained that Washington and Brussels are partial in favour of Serbia.
On Thursday, US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill was direct in an interview for the Serbian Voice of America service, saying Washington has problems with Kurti. “He is not willing to reconcile and I think we have some very fundamental issues with him if we can count on him as partner”, he said.
Hill confirmed a view that many of those who have pursued the Western Balkans and US engagement with Kosovo share these days. “
Charles Kupchan, senior member of the Council for Foreign Relations, said the criticism is justified. He [the Kurti] has taken action recently that I consider unnecessary provocative, including... the use of armed guards to lower ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected by less than 4 per cent of the vote. These are not useful maneuvers,” he told the Voice of America.
