Donic: Kosovo and Greenland are not comparable, the EU is too slow in decision-making

Associate of the New Third Way, Petar Donic, stated that the situations regarding Kosovo and Greenland are not comparable because, as he says, this is a matter of historical context, noting that it has been shown many times that international law is applied selectively.

“This is a question of historical context. Kosovo is not really comparable to Greenland for several reasons. First – how Greenland became part of the Kingdom of Denmark, what the current situation is, the relevance of the actors themselves… On the other hand, we have the secession of Kosovo and the current context. We are speaking in the context of international law, but it has been shown many times that international law is selective,” Donic explained to Kosovo Online.

Asked what position Serbia should take on Greenland and what the risks are of aligning with Washington or Brussels, Donic recalled that Serbia is on the European path, but also that Serbian-American relations have been constantly improving.

“Serbia has been on the European path for a long time. On the other hand, the European Union has, over the past several years, certainly over the past 10 years, shown slowness and inertia. This is now coming to the fore, especially when we have an almost wartime situation, a Cold War-like situation, and in some places even an actual wartime situation. Here we see the shortcomings of the European project, which is a great peacetime project, the most successful in history, but it has its weaknesses. And one of those weaknesses is the speed of decision-making,” Donic said.

Donic pointed out that at this moment there is a need for fast, “explosive” decision-making.

“Europe has a problem because it has to align 27 states at the economic level. At the defense level, we have NATO, where coordination is also necessary. And all of this is, unfortunately, too slow,” Donic noted.

On the other hand, he added that Serbian-American relations, during Donald Trump’s first term, then during Joseph Biden’s term, and now again during the Trump administration, have been “on the rise,” recalling strong diplomatic activity, a series of visits, and joint projects.

In addition, he noted that the backbone of US foreign policy toward this region during Trump’s first term was increasing economic relations.

“That would mean increasing investment projects and cross-border cooperation, aimed at boosting both prosperity and economic activity, after which political problems would be easier to resolve, because the stakeholders who may be opposed at that moment would be more economically integrated. That is the American path,” Donic said.

Commenting on the statement by former US presidential envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Richard Grenell that Serbia should follow the American, not the European, path, he said that it was just one statement, recalling the announcement of a strategic dialogue between Serbia and the United States.

“Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced two new initiatives that should be signed. Probably after these initiatives are made public, it will be a bit clearer whether that direction has changed and, if not, what the additional points on the roadmap for the development of relations between Serbia and the United States are,” Donic said.

Speaking about developments regarding Greenland after the talks in Davos, he said it is important for everyone to understand that Trump’s sharp rhetoric is his “modus operandi,” meaning that he enters negotiations with radical statements that are sharply intensified, and then negotiates different scenarios.

“The issue of Greenland is part of that same ‘modus.’ We started with the acquisition of Greenland and ended with what is actually important to the Americans, which they had during the Cold War, when they had up to 10 bases in Greenland and when the island was an integral part of anti-Soviet defense in terms of air defense, as well as strategic nuclear bombers. That is happening now as well. They want to restore that level of defense,” Donic said.