Chollet: Kurti realized that the issue of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities is a priority

According to the senior Counselor of the US State Department, Derek Chollet, the US was increasing diplomatic pressure on Kosovo and Serbia in order to prevent the spread of violence in the Western Balkans. The formation of the CSM was an urgent issue and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti understood that, Chollet said, Albanian Post reports.

"We are concerned about the spread of violence. The last thing any of us wants right now is a crisis in this part of the world, given that we have the biggest crisis since the Second World War, not far from the Balkan Peninsula", Chollet said in an interview with the British "Financial Times".

Chollet stated that the US did not want the situation in the north of Kosovo to repeat itself.

"We don't want to be faced with diplomacy that de-escalates the crisis. First the license plates, then barricades, we don't want anything like that in the coming days", Chollet added.

According to him, in recent months there had been a rare opportunity to reach an agreement, as Kosovo and Serbia had agreed to put aside the license plates issue, focusing on an agreement based on a Franco-German proposal.

"I think there is a middle path we can take, otherwise we wouldn't bother about it," Chollet said, adding that he was optimistic that an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia could be achieved.

He stated that an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia could be reached in three steps based on the Franco-German proposal.

"The first step is for Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations without full mutual recognition, as other countries have done, at least as an initial step. This is a way to put Kosovo on the Euro-Atlantic path", Chollet says.

In order to achieve this, Chollet argues that both sides must show willingness to compromise.

"The Serbs will eventually have to accept a certain level of sovereignty. Kosovo should give its Serbian citizens greater autonomy, especially the formal Community of Serb-majority Municipalities in the north. I told the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, that this issue was urgent, and he had understood the importance", Chollet said.

According to him, one of the reasons the US insisted on an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia was "the removal of Russian leverage from Serbia".

"Serbia, long dependent on Russian energy, has begun to diversify its energy sources and reduce Russian support. This left the issue of Kosovo as the last leverage that Moscow has over Belgrade, an aspect that does not escape Washington," he said.