Kupchan: Trump wants to give more responsibilities to Europeans, to advance military withdrawal from Kosovo or Europe

US Defence Secretary Pete Hesgeth's stance on the US approach to conflict in Ukraine and the US role in Europe's security that has been warned will be reduced, has sparked major reactions and concerns. The alert has also been given to the Western Balkan region, Kosovo and Bosnia due to problems with Serbia.

However, American professor and former Barack Obamas advisor as president of the United States, Charles Kupchan, has said he does not expect this new political approach of Trump Administration to affect the Western Balkans. According to Kupchan, fortunately in the region there is no war, and Trump is preoccupied with ending the war in Ukraine.

I see no immediate implications for US policy in the Western Balkans. Trump wants to end the war in Ukraine and Hegseth envisioned some of Washington's initial assumptions. Fortunately, there is no war in the Balkans that Trump is seeking to mediate”, Kupchan has said.

Regarding warnings of the reduction of American troops in Europe and the possibility of reducing troops in Kosovo as well, Cupchan has said he sees any US withdrawals from Europe or Kosovo, but expects the US to leave more responsibility to European allies.

“Trump is keen to facilitate the US defence role in Europe and see Europeans bear more responsibility for their defence. I do not foresee a US withdrawal from Kosovo or Europe, but I expect a handover of more responsibilities to European Allies”, the US professor for Gazette Express has suggested.

As for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia and the possibility of Trump putting pressure on the two countries for finding a solution that included territorial modifications, Kupchan says he doesn't think there will be such an initiative from Washington, however, adds that if Kosovo and Serbia, the US will not stop.

“Trump is highly transactional and would not insist on principles if territorial arrangements appear to offer a good chance for normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia”, Kupchan has indicated.

At the end of the interview, asked what cautions Kosovo leadership as this new American approach is seen on the horizon, Kuchan orders that dialogue with Serbia return to the right path and not identify Kosovo as a stumbling block, since it would further damage reports with America.

“My advice is to get dialogue with Serbia back on track. If Trump and his advisers, including Rick Green, view Pristina as an obstacle to progress, relations with Washington will likely suffer”, American professor Charles Kupchan has ended.