Grenell: The international community must be stricter towards Kurti

Former US Special Envoy for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, Richard Grenell, stated today that the international community had to be stricter towards Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti, adding that he could not understand why the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities had not been formed yet.

"I don't believe there is a single issue brought forth by the US that Kurti has supported. He has been against everything the US proposed. I was very critical of him. There are numerous agreements that required the establishment of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities. Why he hasn't done that – I don't understand," Grenell told reporters before a lecture at the Center for Social Stability in Novi Sad.

Therefore, he believes that the international community should be stricter towards Kurti, adding that he doesn't believe Hashim Thaci would have chosen the same path as Kurti but rather a different approach.

Grenell stated that there was no doubt that the dialogue process wasn't functioning.

"I believe that if Trump were the President of the United States, we wouldn't be in this situation. We wouldn't have an increase in NATO troops in Kosovo; quite the opposite. When we negotiated, we envisioned a day when there would no longer be NATO troops in Kosovo because they wouldn't be necessary. We made progress with four normalization agreements," Grenell said.

He reminded that he told both sides, both Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci at the time, that if they wanted opportunities for young people, economic progress, and discussions about a better life for the citizens, not just politics, they had to make progress on those issues.

"Now we are in a situation where the EU is responsible for the negotiations, and it's not going well," Grenell assessed.

When asked whether the United States could take a key role in the negotiations, he responded - they should.

"I worked at the UN for eight years, and I don't think the UN can function effectively without US leadership. There must be US leadership," Grenell said.

In response to the observation that he has influence on the Government in Pristina, he acknowledged that his voice was heard, and he was trying to calm the situation.

"I was in northern Kosovo when they advised me not to go because it was dangerous. I went without security, and everything was fine. I had lunch and talked to people. Then I asked the US Ambassador in Pristina why he didn't go. He should go," Grenell said.

When asked about the difference between the Trump and Biden administrations, he said it was very simple:

"Trump believed that the two sides should discuss the economy, job creation, and enabling young people to stay in this region. We believed this could be achieved under US leadership. The Biden administration believes that the EU should lead the process, and the US should take a step back. I think it's clear which approach is better. Trump's approach was much better for the citizens of Serbia, Kosovo, and the entire region," Grenell stated.