Escobar: Agreement on normalization opens peaceful era of Kosovo-Serbia relations

The US Administration's envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, emphasized that the Agreement on normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, if properly implemented, could open a new era of peaceful relations between the two sides, as reported by Voice of America.

Escobar emphasized that this is an exceptional agreement.

"This is an agreement on normalization of relations between two, as I would describe it, hostile neighboring countries, towards European standards, and in accordance with the European framework, which we wanted. Therefore, it is an exceptional achievement in itself," Escobar explained in an interview with Voice of America.

Escobar said that the European Union had established an "aggressive schedule" in an effort to implement all the points of the agreement reached in Ohrid by the end of 2023.

Regarding the non-participation of the Serb List in the upcoming extraordinary elections in northern Kosovo, Escobar says that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is not the person who makes the final decision on whether they will participate, but that he has influence, adding that the Serb List was determined not to participate in the elections for its own reasons.

Escobar emphasized that during his talks with Vucic, he had noticed his concern about several things.

"He is very concerned about the conditions under which Serbs currently live. It is true that there is a certain degree of isolation of that community by the central government, and we have called on both sides to find a compromise solution to these problems. But we have a situation where there are numerous vacant positions in institutions that must be filled," Escobar said.

Escobar pointed out that it is important for both Serbia and Kosovo to approach Euro-Atlantic institutions, that the goal of the Ohrid Agreement is not Kosovo's membership in the UN, and that Vucic's statement that he will not allow Kosovo's membership in the UN does not jeopardize the agreement.

"The United Nations is a challenging issue. What we need to focus more on is their candidacy for the European Union, approaching NATO, and all other structures, including approaching each other, which would directly affect the lives of citizens. Therefore, we focus on bringing Kosovo and Serbia closer to Europe and the United States as quickly as possible, through this agreement," Escobar concluded.