US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said he hopes there will be no significant changes for people in northern Kosovo and Metohija since September 1, when Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced the implementation of the rules on license plates and ID cards.
He called on both sides to refrain from violence. “We want both sides to commit that there will be no violence,” Escobar said at a press conference at the US Embassy in Belgrade.
He indicated that the talks were difficult, but that he “saw the will to find a solution, the will to build trust in the process”. He told the citizens of Serbia that the USA heard their concerns.
US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said he hopes there will be no significant changes for people in northern Kosovo and Metohija since September 1, when Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced the implementation of the rules on license plates and ID cards.
He called on both sides to refrain from violence. “We want both sides to commit that there will be no violence,” Escobar said at a press conference at the US Embassy in Belgrade.
He indicated that the talks were difficult, but that he “saw the will to find a solution, the will to build trust in the process”. He told the citizens of Serbia that the USA heard their concerns.
“In many cases there is serious concern for the Serbs in Kosovo, there is a serious problem in trust (between the two sides),” Escobar added. He expressed hope that an agreement on license plates would be reached.
“I hope that on September 1, the daily life of people in the north of Kosovo will not be additionally burdened and that they will live in peace, that they will not need additional administrative procedures to get to their homes. And I believe that we will succeed in achieving that,” he said. Escobar.
He said that these are his expectations, that he hopes for it and that he is convinced that it can be achieved.
According to his words, the USA conveyed to the two parties that they expect the issue of the implementation of all existing agreements to be on the agenda at the next meeting in Brussels. “We don’t expect an agreement to be reached then, but we certainly expect it to be on the agenda,” said Escobar.
The American official assessed that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels is not clinically dead, reminding that the USA supports the dialogue even though it does not participate in it. The agenda (dialogue) was established by the EU representative, the most important part is the commitment of the leaders and that is what we got from them, part of our role is that they fulfill those commitments in order to reach an agreement. We will continue to press both sides to maintain peace and stability,” Escobar said.
According to his words, the USA supports dialogue, they believe that dialogue is the channel and mechanism through which Serbia and Kosovo will reach a compromise solution that will end with the normalization of relations, which, as he stated, will unlock their European future.
“I expect that by the end of the month, based on the commitment of both sides and the hard work of the EU special envoy Miroslav Lajčak, that we will find a way to continue peacefully,” he said./euronews.rs
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