Vujacic: Congresswoman Tenney's initiative for the U.S. to withhold assistance to Kosovo additional pressure on Kurti

Former Ambassador of Serbia to the U.S., Ivan Vujacic, says that the initiative of U.S. Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, who presented a bill proposal to support the Brussels Agreement in the House of Representatives, under which Washington would withhold all assistance to Kosovo until it fulfills all obligations, is useful because it represents additional pressure on Pristina. He adds that the initiative draws attention to the existing problem, which is the inflexibility of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti when it comes to fulfilling the requirements of that document regarding the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

"This is, after all, the official position of the U.S. They were quite disturbed by Kurti's 'hardness' not to take any steps in that direction. Congresswoman Tenney is a member of the Serbian Caucus, which is not a lobby group but an informal group of congressmen showing interest in a particular part of the world or a particular issue. The fact that she is in the Serbian Caucus shows that she has greater knowledge and understanding of the situation in this part of the world, primarily when it comes to Serbia and, consequently, Kosovo. So, it is a useful initiative in terms of putting pressure on the Albanian side," Vujacic says for Kosovo Online.

However, he emphasizes that he does not believe such a law will be adopted.

"The enactment of the law is very complicated. It might have been better to propose amendments to appropriations that the U.S. government officially provides to Kosovo. Maybe that would have been more effective, although it is questionable whether that would pass either. In any case, Congresswoman Tenney's move is a good initiative to draw attention to this problem," Vujacic says.

Congresswoman Tenney, in the proposed law she introduced to the House of Representatives, detailed how Pristina has been violating the Brussels Agreement and the rights of Serbs for years, contributing to the destabilization of the region and increased tensions, yet it receives significant support from Washington.

"It's all additional pressure on Pristina. However, Congress does not formulate foreign policy and has limited influence on the administration. But, given that the administration's position is also that the obligations from the Brussels Agreement must be fulfilled, this is probably another additional argument, showing that the administration has the support of Congress to exert pressure on Kurti's government to take some action," Vujacic points out.