US State Department praises Lajcak: Hard work on Kosovo- Serbia

The US State Department praised on Monday what it called diligent efforts by European Union Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak in the Kosovo-Serbia talks.

The comments came in response to a request by the Voice of America for a response to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti's statements, which today accused Mr. Lajcak of bias and anti-Pristina stances at last week's meeting between the parties.

Prime Minister Kurti said he had sent letters on the issue to key Western countries while accusing Mr. Lajcak, among other things, of “deforming the” process.

In response to Voice of America, spokesman for The UN did not confirm or deny whether the letter had arrived in Washington, but said:

“We (SHBA) remain closely engaged with Kosovo, Serbia and EU partners in the facilitated dialogue by the European Union. We thank and recognise EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak's hard efforts”.

So is the spokesman The UN expressed disappointment over the lack of progress at the 14 September meeting, adding that dialogue facilitated by the EU is the only way forward for Kosovo and Serbia.

“We expect the two countries to take their obligations seriously under the agreement on the road to normalisation, which reached early this year. Time is running out. We want to see progress in existing and previous obligations based on dialogue (enlightened by the EU) and the Ohrid Agreement, including the establishment of the majority Serbian Commission Association”.

spokesman The UN concluded its response by adding that Washington is fully united with Quinn's partner countries in supporting the dialogue process. He said the US would consult both inside and with their European partners on future steps.

During a conference with journalists in Pristina, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused the European Union's special envoy of Kosovo talks, Miroslav Lajcak, of not being the impartial “” at last week's meeting between the parties.

He said on September 14th there was a clear position of mediator, against Kosovo in general and against the basic agreement in particular.

“Either we implement the basic agreement in its entirety or we cannot apply only what Serbia wants. This logic has died and an independent Republic of Kosovo cannot, should not, and will not walk on such a path.“.

Prime Minister Kurti and Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic disagreed last week about steps to implement the agreement on normalisation of relations, but European officials said it was Prime Minister Kurti who had rejected a proposal for “consecutive fulfillment” of the obligations stemming from the agreement reached in Brussels and Ohrid.

Prime Minister Kurti announced that he has sent letters to the top chiefs of Western countries to clarify the latest meeting and accused Mr. Lajcak of having “Distorting the process by not focusing on full and detailed, immediate and unconditional implementation of the basic agreement and implementation annex, but allowing the cart to be put before the horses, the Association of municipalities once and then we see”.

The leaders of the two countries met in Brussels amid high tensions and Western diplomats' calls for avoiding actions that could spur a renewal of violence in the region. Tensions erupted at the end of May, when Albanian mayors of northern municipalities who emerged from the 23 April elections boycotted by Serbs were sent to municipal offices with police support.

The European Union seeks to reduce tensions through a plan envisioning the suspension of police operations in the north, the transfer of mayors to alternative offices, and the proclamation of early elections with unconditional participation of Kosovo Serbs.