Escobar replied to Gervalla: You cannot move forward with populism and nationalism

Everything positive that has happened in the last generation comes from the American-European cooperation, said at the Forum in Dubrovnik, the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, responding to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Donika Gervalla, who said that the EU without the US and NATO was a paper tiger and that without them peace in Europe could not be ensured.

Escobar also stated that there was a populist leadership in Kosovo with which he "cannot move forward", the portal Nacional reported.

Responding to the Kosovo minister, Escobar said that he did not agree with her.

"I'm sorry that I have to 'separate' from my colleague in Kosovo, but everything positive that happened in the Balkans is a combination of EU and US cooperation," Escobar stressed.

He also noted that the Balkans have become a region with two paths, and that on one is those who are in NATO, more stable and strongly on the way to the EU, and on the other are those who "spend the attention and resources of the region for their challenges".

"The difference is that the countries that are in NATO and that have progressed, have overcome the challenge of ethnic rivalry... compared to those that still have a leadership that believes that populism, nationalism, ethnic rivalry are the way forward, and they are the ones who have the most challenges".

The EU's special envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, reacted to Gervalla’s words, saying that the EU is "the most successful union of states" and the dream of the countries that are knocking on the bloc's door, adding that there is a need for expansion.

"The European Union is far from perfect, but it is the best we have. It is the most successful union of states. There is no other community of states on this planet that has created better political, economic stability... So, I think that joining the EU is the dream of the countries that knock to the door of the EU. In these 20 years, only Croatia entered the EU, and the enlargement process lost momentum. It is known that something must be done. I think, ironically, the war in Ukraine brought a positive effect, and that is the EU's understanding that we have unfinished affairs in the Western Balkans, we must be serious, and enlargement must be in play again," said Lajcak.