Angry and dangerous: Serbophobic congressman who lost the primaries could be sent to Kosovo
Serbia should not be happy that Democratic Congressman Eliot Engel, an ardent supporter of Kosovo who pushed the Clinton administration to bomb Belgrade in the late 90s, lost the recent primaries.
The Kosovo branch of the American Radio Liberty writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“But Engel’s departure from the House of Representatives, where he most recently chaired the lower house’s Foreign Affairs Committee, using his formidable position to punish Belgrade and defend Kosovo, may not be a cause for celebration for Serbia,” the site writes.
Radio Liberty predicts that the Biden administration may make Engel ambassador to Kosovo or special envoy to the Balkans. The appointment will likely occur by early 2022, when the U.S. ambassadors to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina complete their three-year terms in those positions.
Jelena Milic, director of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies in Belgrade, said Serbia would view it as a failure if Engel was involved in Serbia-Kosovo peace talks because of his close ties to Pristina.
Radio Liberty predicts that the Biden administration will pay a lot of attention to the Kosovo settlement, since the new president himself knows this region well.
Biden co-sponsored the 1995 Senate bill that lifted the U.N. arms embargo on Bosnians fighting the Serbs.
He also supported NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999 and pushed for expanded NATO membership in Eastern Europe, including Slovenia and Croatia.
As vice president, Biden visited Serbia and Kosovo in 2016, but he received a cold reception in Belgrade, although he expressed condolences to those killed in 1999 NATO air raids.
But in Kosovo, he was honored to name a street after his recently deceased son Bo, who worked in Kosovo at the end of the war with Serbia, helping to train local prosecutors and judges.
Kosovo also named a street and highway after Engel and even issued a stamp with his image.
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