Hill: It is important that the Serbian side approached the European proposal constructively

US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill said today that it was important that the Serbian side had constructively approached the European agreement plan with Kosovo, which, he says, will ultimately affect the speed with which Serbia approaches the West.

 Hill told TV N1 that "Serbia has already decided to turn to the West", adding that many Serbs found it frustrating that the process was taking so long.

"I hope that the result of all this will be a much better, faster pace of European integration," Hill said.

When asked why the European proposal was secret, he said that he would not call it a secret, but something that was considered traditional diplomatic channels.

"If you try to deal with diplomacy through the media, there will be a lot of misunderstandings," he said, and added that was why he believed that such matters should be discussed exclusively at the table.

Asked whether Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic would "cross the line" if he revealed the content of the proposal at the upcoming parliamentary session, he replied that it had been a "hypothetical question", but that a major debate in parliament was needed.

"I think it's appropriate that the plan be discussed in the assembly, but I leave it to others to decide what should be disclosed and what should not be disclosed," Hill said.

He also said that Serbia was sticking to its policy towards sanctions against Russia "longer than the Russian army kept Kherson".

"The issue of Serbia's relationship with Russia - you can see that it is weakening day by day. It can be seen that there is a growing interest in cooperation with the EU and more interest in cooperation with the US," Hill said.

He repeated the position of the US government that Serbia should join the sanctions against Russia but added that it was not true that Serbia had done nothing because it had condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

When asked whether Belgrade's position in the negotiations with Pristina was weaker because it had not imposed sanctions on Russia, he said that these were separate issues.

Asked who cooperated more, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti or Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Hill answered with a smile:

"If I thought answering that question would help the negotiation process, I would, but I'll leave that to your imagination."

He also pointed out that the main issue concerning the fulfillment of the Brussels Agreement was the establishment of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities.

"I think there's an urgent need for everyone to agree on that and understand that once you commit to something, you have to follow through," Hill said.

The ambassador did not want to comment on the documents that were "leaked" to the media, but he pointed out that the position of the international negotiators had been "very well communicated both in Belgrade and Pristina."