Savkovic: Washington expects Pristina to take steps toward establishing the CSM

According to Marko Savkovic of the ISAC Fund, the message from Washington about its readiness to strengthen the partnership with the future Government of Kosovo is courteous in nature and general in scope, but he notes that Washington has always expected Pristina to fulfill the obligations it undertook in the dialogue with Belgrade, primarily in the context of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

“The CSM may not be mentioned that often, but it is still an obligation, and Kosovo is expected to finally take steps toward its establishment,” Savkovic told Kosovo Online.

After the snap elections held in Kosovo, the State Department announced that the United States hopes to strengthen its partnership with the next Government of Kosovo, including the continuation of the strategic dialogue, noting that this will require actions that advance the shared agenda for regional peace, stability, and mutual economic prosperity.

Savkovic says this is a general message that also concerns the stabilization of conditions in the region: do not do anything that would provoke others or further undermine the already fragile security architecture of the region.

Asked what the United States means by a shared agenda for regional peace and stability, he assesses that it involves several things, starting with participation in various formats promoted and supported by the United States, from the Atlantic Charter to formats within NATO programs that are important for the development of what is referred to in Kosovo as the Kosovo army.
“The United States has a very active role in building their capacities and in arming them, perhaps not as active as some other countries at the moment, but a lot is still expected in Kosovo from that relationship. One aspect is the procurement of anti-tank weapons, another is the procurement of Black Hawk transport helicopters, announced by Defense Minister Maqedonci, which would represent a significant resource for that armed formation in terms of mobility,” Savkovic notes.

Looking back, he says that during Albin Kurti’s second term there was a consolidation of control over Kosovo, which from Belgrade’s perspective is highly problematic, and it seems that there is now no return to the status quo ante.

When it comes to the future of the dialogue, he emphasizes that the role of the United States has always been important, but notes that the administration in Washington is now different.
“This is an administration for which you do not really know whether European security interests are close to its heart, and consequently the status of Kosovo and the situation in Kosovo. It is a transactional administration, and we do not know what the authorities in Pristina can offer in order to placate Washington or make it more receptive to their ideas. We can only speculate,” he says.

Speaking about economic cooperation between the United States and Kosovo, Savkovic says it is not particularly significant, that its volume is small and that the relationship will always be asymmetric, but that it is still important for Kosovo.

“Kosovo has to give something in order to attract the attention of the United States. For now, we can only speculate what that might be. US economic interests in Kosovo cannot be separated from security interests. These include control of transit routes, at least that was the case for a long time, although many issues are now being reopened. For a long time, simply by being located somewhere, you also wanted to physically control a certain area. There was Camp Bondsteel, investment in road infrastructure, and announcements we had in the context of the Washington Agreement. There is certainly also an opportunity to use critical raw materials, as there is an assumption that they exist in Kosovo to some extent, although they have not been sufficiently explored,” Savkovic concluded.