Negotiations with the State Department special envoy: The Serbian press is amazed by the impudent statements of the American
Serbia is ready for compromises on Kosovo, but they should not mean humiliation of the Serbian people in the region illegally seized by the separatists.
This was stated by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at negotiations with US Special Representative for the Balkans Matthew Palmer.
The meeting was held first in a face-to-face format, and then in an expanded format.
Vučić said at the end that he and Palmer “examined all our controversial issues, all disagreements,” while calling the United States “the most powerful force in the world” and repeating the invitation to Donald Trump to visit Serbia.
He thanked the Americans for supporting Belgrade’s position on the need to cancel the decision of the “authorities” of Kosovo to introduce duties on the import of goods from Serbia to the Slavic enclaves.
The President expressed hope that obstacles to resuming negotiations with Pristina could be removed in the next 2-3 months. At the same time, the head of state called for abandoning radical demands and thinking about reaching a compromise.
Vucic also said that the Serbian List party, which is oriented towards cooperation with official Belgrade, which received more than 95% in the Slavic enclaves, has the right to participate in the new “government” of Kosovo.
It should be noted that on the eve of the meeting with Vucic, Palmer, during a visit to Kosovo, stated that Serbia would not join the EU until it recognized the legality of the seizure of its territories by the separatists.
Palmer also demanded that the leaders of the Serbian List party, which won the elections in the Slavic enclaves, abandon their focus on Belgrade.
At the same time, the American diplomat, as PolitNavigator already reported, recently held a meeting with the “Albanian Serbs” (Serbs loyal to the separatist authorities in the region), who received less than 0,1% of the votes in the elections.
In addition, the special representative of the US State Department, during his visit to Skopje, threatened Belgrade with sanctions if Serbia decides to purchase Russian Pantsir-S and S-400 missile systems, and also criticized the Balkan country for cooperation with China.
On the eve of the negotiations between Vucic and Palmer, the Serbian publication Informer published the following information about the closed part of the meeting - Belgrade was supposed to voice eight points to the Americans.
1. Matthew Palmer had no right to demand recognition of Kosovo as a condition for Serbia's accession to the European Union. Such demands are not voiced from Brussels. In addition, the American is not an EU official.
2. The United States has no legal grounds to demand that Serbia stop the campaign to revoke the decisions by the world countries to recognize the “independence” of Kosovo. Where and when did official Belgrade undertake to stop lobbying for the withdrawal of confessions of a false state? There is not a word about this in the Brussels Agreement.
3. Why did Palmer, during his recent visit to Pristina, not mention at all the Community of Serbian Municipalities, the formation of which is guaranteed by the Brussels Agreement? Why are Albanians in Pristina not held accountable for failure to fulfill their obligations under international agreements?
4. Why does Palmer demand that the representatives of the Serbian List abandon Belgrade and find “space for their political activities within the framework of an independent Kosovo”? How can one openly threaten in this way a political party that convincingly won elections in the region?
5. Why did Palmer secretly meet with pro-Western Serbian Kosovo oppositionists Nenad Rasic and Slobodan Petrovic at the Bela Vista cafe in the village of Laple near Pristina? Why did he only release the photo and information about it when the media found out about the “secret” meeting? How does the US State Department special representative support the inclusion of Rasic and Petrovic in the Kosovo negotiations, knowing that these people did not receive any support from the Serbs?
6. Why does Palmer threaten Serbia with sanctions over the S-400 missile system, knowing that the country has not yet acquired it? Why does Serbia receive threats against itself for wanting to buy an air defense system, which is a defensive weapon, while Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania are acquiring offensive weapons through US subsidies?
7.Why does the US representative oppose Chinese investment in Serbia? Why is the Chinese, who acquired the mining and processing plant in Smederevo, interfering with him? Why does he forget that the Americans left this plant when their profits decreased?
8. Why did Palmer promise to help the communities of “Albanian victims” in Pristina in a claim for damages from Serbia?
Aleksandar Vucic himself, on the eve of the meeting with Palmer, emphasized that he very carefully considered all the latest statements by the American.
“The surprise for me is that Palmer, in fact, spoke only about Belgrade’s obligations and did not mention a word about Pristina’s obligations. If all this is as he said, especially in Kosovo, where, as I hoped, it was necessary to reduce the expectations of the authorities in Pristina and talk about the need for compromise, I have a question: what can we talk about? That we should recognize the independence of Kosovo, and Pristina will cancel duties in response? This is some kind of joke,” Vucic said, adding that the state is ready to compromise and talk, but is not ready to endure humiliation.
Deputy Chairman of the Serbian List Igor Simic, who met with Palmer the day before during his visit to Kosovo, also commented on the actions of the American envoy,
“It was a sincere conversation in which we could not reach agreement on some positions. It is impossible to form power structures in Pristina without the Serbian List. It was a surprise for us that Palmer met with people who did not receive the trust of the Serbs of the region. But it’s still good that we met, because Palmer heard what the Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija actually think, and not those whom Pristina wants to see as its interlocutors,” said Simic.
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