Grenell: Everyone understands that Kurti's policy is anti-American; he has crossed red lines

The former US Special Envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Richard Grenell, told Serbian Radio Chicago that in recent weeks the Biden administration realized that the policy of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti was anti-American and pointed out that there had been peace in the Western Balkans region during the time of US President Donald Trump, while now Kurti was causing problems.

Grenell reminds that the Trump administration when it comes to the Western Balkans, worked on a common economy, and created jobs.

"The fact is that when Trump was president, we had a peaceful region that worked together on the economy, creating jobs. It may surprise you, but our position was - who cares whether the two sides will recognize each other or not, for that it takes time, it takes politics. Now we see the problems with Kurti. I have worked with him for a long time, we realized that he is very anti-American. One is the policy that Kurti as Prime Minister supports, and the other as a citizen, he cannot expect from the US to keep having a partnership with him in this way," Grenell said.

According to him, what governments should do is enable open borders, create jobs, and create a region that will grow economically.

"One of the arguments I used in Kosovo is that the Serbian economy is much bigger, they are doing better. In the last few weeks, what happened was that Gabriel Escobar and the Europeans, the French, the Germans realized what Trump's policy recognized a long time ago, which is that Kurti is not good for cooperation," Grenell says.

He adds that the people of Kosovo deserve to have excellent relations with the US and that he liked working with Hashim Thaci.

Stating that the Americans, Antony Blinken and Joe Biden, had told Kurti he had until last Friday to respond to demands for a change in policy and attitude, he asked them what they would do if he did not respond to the red lines they had set.
Grenell also states that every conversation he had with Aleksandar Vucic was used to express his firm position that Serbia needs to reject Russia, China, and the East and that Serbia's future lies in closer relations with the West.

"Unfortunately, in the last year and a half, we have a situation where we see that Kurti has not moved forward," he adds.

Commenting on the fact that many people tell him that he is very strict towards Kosovo lately, Grenell says that it is because of Kurti's policy and adds that now "they need Thaci out of the Hague and back to the leadership position" because, as he says, "he led politics oriented towards peace".

He tells the citizens of Kosovo that they need leaders who are able to make difficult decisions now if they want to be closer to the US.

“But if you don't want that, don't expect the Americans to continue to support you and suffer damage," he adds.

He also stated that the Biden administration had failed the US and that this could also be seen in Afghanistan, in the Western Balkans, and "all over the world".

In this sense, he states that it is now more difficult to tell Vucic to turn away from China.

He believes that the Trump administration, if Donald Trump were to return to the position of president of the US, would solve those problems, both in internal and foreign policy.