Maliqi: Marko Djuric, the most powerful and influential Balkan ambassador

Political analyst Agon Maliqi says that there is an increasingly visible discrepancy between Kosovo's expectations of what American policy should be and the very direction, priorities and interests of America, as well as that the Serbian ambassador to the US, Marko Djuric, has become "the most powerful and influential Balkan ambassador". Gazeta Express reported.

Maliqi says that the context and approach of Kosovo's relations with the administration of Joe Biden and with the former administration of Donald Trump are different.

"In Kosovo, the role of the US can still be seen through the eyes of 1999. There are illusions that the US exists to fulfill the wishes of Kosovo and that it will have to bring Serbia to its knees," Maliqi said.

He adds that according to the officials' statements, America aims to build positive relations with all countries in the region in order to open the entire region to NATO and EU integration.

"And they gave priority, in the context of a broader war against Russia, to the weakening of Russian influence, especially in its allied states," Maliqi explains.

According to him, Kosovo's irrational approach in the last few years to topics such as delimitation, association, and dialogue had produced great frustration and irritation in the US, which had turned Kosovo into a burden for the US rather than an ally.

"The atmosphere described by Mr. Ilir Dugolli, the Kosovo ambassador to the US, is real and has been created for years," Maliqi added.

As for Serbia, Maliqi points out that despite the destructive politics in the region, they managed to impose themselves and build a cooperative relationship, but also to be constructive, which is rewarded and will be rewarded.

According to him, the greatest damage in this regard had been caused by the approach of the government of the north of Kosovo in 2022, which he says was done "without coordination and consultation with the US".

Maliqi also mentioned the state of the Kosovo embassy in the US, which had been left without enough human resources, saying that Kosovo did not spend money on lobbying in Washington, but the situation with the Serbian embassy was completely different.

"The Embassy of Serbia has increased its staff and expenses many times over, which, according to my sources, has made Marko Djuric the most powerful and influential Balkan ambassador," Maliqi emphasized.

In the end, he says that today's US policy in the region is the result of both geopolitical changes and complete neglect and arrogance of Kosovo".

"And yet, despite that, the US remains a supporter of Kosovo, just not in the form that Kosovo expects to be," Maliqi concluded.