Grenell: EU rewarded Kurti with the Brussels meeting; there should not be another meeting until the June 3 demands are met

Former US Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Richard Grenell, emphasized that the EU had rewarded Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti with a meeting in Brussels, despite Kurti's disregard for their demands.

In a written statement to Kosovo online, Grenell noted that the Biden Administration's policy on the current Kosovo-Serbia crisis was to allow the European Union to lead the negotiations, which, as he said, was also the Union's desire.

"It is exactly what the EU wanted. The 27 member states responded to the Balkan crisis by scheduling meetings and making statements but have taken little action," Grenell said.

He pointed out that on June 3, 2023, the EU had made it clear that the ongoing crisis between Kosovo and Serbia had been the fault of Prime Minister Albin Kurti's unilateral actions in the northern part of Kosovo.

Grenell reminded that the EU stated on that occasion that Kurti must suspend police operations in the vicinity of the municipal buildings; announce elections in the northern part of Kosovo as soon as possible; and implement the previously agreed upon commitment of the Government of Kosovo to form an Association of Serb Municipalities, or as the EU stated in its press release, "to start without any further delay or precondition the work to establish the Association/Community of Serb Municipalities."

"The EU statement was clear, but Kurti has ignored all of the demands. Instead of calling out Kurti's inaction over the last three months, the EU rewarded him with another meeting in Brussels on Thursday, September 14 with Serbian President Vucic," Grenell stated.

Grenell believes that the German Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, is a "serious politician" who has shown some frustration with Kurti, but that even Sarrazin has been largely silent.

"If the EU wants to be taken seriously in foreign affairs, then it needs to mean what it says. There shouldn't be another meeting scheduled to talk about the issues until the June 3 demands are met," Grenell concluded.