Karanovic: We should not believe that anyone in the West will turn their back on the Pristina institutions

The pressures and messages coming from Washington and Brussels to the address of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti – that the Community of Serb Municipalities "must be formed with this or any other government" in Pristina – mean that it is questionable whether the US can count on Kurti as a partner, but it does not imply a change in their stance towards Kosovo's independence, i.e., they will not withdraw their support, according to historian and political analyst Ognjen Karanovic, as reported by RT Balkan.

In this regard, Karanovic believes that the statement made by the US Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, that the West has an issue with Kurti, who refuses to accept proposals for de-escalating the situation in Kosovo, while Belgrade is constructive and an increasingly better partner.

"The treatment of Kurti does not mean that the US has given up on its project of a fake state in our southern province, and now we need to be politically wise and responsible. Don't believe that anyone in the West will turn their back on the provisional institutions and the Albanian separatist body, their biggest ally in the Balkans, because they won't," Karanovic said for Vecernje Novosti.

Karanovic adds that the announced sanctions by the US, which they themselves have clarified as being directed only at Kurti and not the people of Kosovo, can be used by Serbia as an opportunity to deepen open relations with America, which is crucial considering the multi-vector policy of relying on both the West and the East on the European path. According to Karanovic, this is the only way for Serbia to maintain its sovereignty and political neutrality.

"The United States, as well as Germany, consider it crucial for the Western Balkans region to be stable and for any potential war crises to bypass this part of the world since the West is involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict," Karanovic says.

Commenting on the proposal by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama for the CSM, which does not align with the Brussels Agreement, Karanovic emphasizes that it clearly shows that the "US will now harness its forces among the Albanians" to relativize the establishment of the CSM, whose Status was drafted by the Management Team.

"They want to limit the only guaranteed right of the Management Team in accordance with the letter of Brussels. The CSM should serve as institutional protection for Serbs in Kosovo and their connection with Belgrade, i.e., their state of Serbia. They are inventing new procedures regarding the CSM, and we must insist on what was agreed upon in Brussels," Karanovic concluded.