Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Reeker: Concernful why things have not changed since the Brussels Agreement

Former US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker has talked about dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, saying it is disappointing how after not more than a decade after the arrival of the Brussels Agreement things have not moved yet.

Reeker has said he participated and worked with EU colleagues when representing the United States more than a decade ago in the initial EU dialogue led by Baroness Catherine Ashton, then the EU High Representative.

And we succeeded. It was the Brussels Agreement. It is amazing to see that more than a decade later, things have not moved further. And that's disappointing. I think it would be good if everyone, not just in the region, but throughout Europe, realized that it's time to move on. You have structure, more deals in dialogue. Use them. If this doesn't work, find other ways to do it. You had Miroslav Lajcak, for example, who courageously did the job of uniting the parties”, Reeker said in an interview for “N1”, adding that there were new elections in the EU.

You have a new [European] commission, you have a new American administration, you have a new United Kingdom government. This was an election year. More than half the world's population had the opportunity to vote. I think it's time to go through these long-standing conflicts<x1...

The American diplomat has also been asked about speculation that Trump could cut NATO's spending and whether this would affect the KFOR mission in Kosovo.

Reeker thinks KFOR was a very effective tool created with American support, guidance and American participation to date.

I think it's very possible for Trump's second administration to look at KFOR and say, "Why are we doing this?... It wants to reduce the delocation of American troops abroad. He wants to know how this benefits us? So I say, what will the region do for us in the United States? We have a lot to deal with. I cannot predict exactly how this will be revised. The new administration has long taken office on January 20th. Officials have to take their seats, decisions will be made at that time, no doubt consulting Congress, and I am sure of the Allies as well. But how much more if we remember how long it has been, 25 years since the war in Kosovo and more than a decade since the dialogue that produced the Brussels Agreement. So it's time to go on with these” things, he said.