Sretenovic: Macron threatened in order to calm the tensions that Kurti caused in Kosovo

Stanislav Sretenovic from the Institute for Contemporary History says that the latest statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, about a possible review of the visa policy if Serbia and Kosovo did not implement the Franco-German proposal, went beyond the scope of normal diplomatic communication and is more into the realm of mild threats.

Sretenovic adds that now we should expect a message by which Macron will ask for concrete actions in the direction of de-escalation, calming tensions, and respecting the rules of conduct.

"You can certainly interpret such statements as pressure. We have to see what will happen concretely with relations on the ground and how politicians, especially those from the Quint countries, think to solve the problem of tensions," Sretenovic told Kosovo Online.

He explains that yesterday at the conference, Macron sent the main message that the French Ambassadors were working to restore the importance of France in international relations, and in the context of the war in Ukraine and a certain feeling of weakness within the EU, especially between Paris and Berlin.

The second level of Macron's analysis, as stated by Sretenovic, referred to the EU itself, which had the Paris-Berlin axis as its engine, and which weakened in certain situations, while the third level of analysis concerned specific political events in the world, including in the Balkans, i.e. in Serbia, even in Kosovo.

"The positions on regional issues derive from the general picture that Macron wanted to give. Specifically, in the Balkans, this means the continuity of Franco-German policy on calming tensions between the Serbs and the Albanians; tensions that have recently been fueled by unilateral moves by Albin Kurti, and the re-establishment of some technical solution on the ground that will be related to appeasing the spirits and concrete solutions to people's everyday lives," Sretenovic says.

He adds that if you analyze Macron's statements, as well as those of other European politicians, you can notice that these statements range from extremely threatening to extremely soothing.

He explains that it is a method in diplomacy and politics which, in the opinion of those people who conduct politics in this way, contributes to de-escalation and calming the situation.

Pointing out that we are in a global situation that is very complex and where there are several hotspots, Sretenovic points out that it is not in anyone's interest to cause a counter-reaction in the Balkans and complicate the situation and possibly the emergence of a new hotspot.

"It is not in anyone's interest, I think that Serbia will know how to interpret these statements and that its policy, as before, will contribute to the calming of the situation and the benefit of the Serbs in Kosovo. Albin Kurti often provoked not only the Serbs with his statements and his actions, but the entire international community, and I hope that the next period will lead him to an attitude that will be less radical, less challenging, and much more practical, and beneficial to the calming of the situation in Kosovo because it is in everyone's interest," Sretenovic concluded.