STATE DEPARTMENT - The new U.S. Special Envoy to the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer is calling on Kosovo and Serbia to restart talks after Kosovo’s October 6 election.
In an interview with VOA State Department Correspondent Nike Ching on Wednesday, Palmer said the United States hopes the new Kosovo government will be “one that's prepared to suspend the tariffs that are an obstacle to the resumption of the dialogue process.”
He urged Kosovo to “recognize that its priority is a deal with Serbia on normalization,” adding “suspending the tariffs is part of that.” Palmer said the U.S. is hopeful that Serbia will then respond with suspending the de-recognition campaign against Kosovo.
Talks between the two nations have been put on hold since last year over Kosovo’s decision to impose a 100% tax on imported goods from Serbia.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj abruptly resigned in July after being summoned as a suspect before a war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Kosovo will hold a snap election on October 6 following his resignation.
Following are excerpts of the interview:
Good afternoon, Special Envoy Palmer, thank you very much for talking to Voice of America.
Thanks for having me on your show.
What are the policy priorities in your new role? Given this is a new position created under the current administration, is it an increase of the U.S. interests and commitments to the Western Balkans?
Certainly, I think the decision by the secretary of state to appoint a special representative for the Western Balkans demonstrates clearly and in a concrete fashion our commitment to the region, our commitment to be a partner for the region, and our ambition to help the region move closer into the Western community of nations.
So I look at my role as being really in position to help the countries of the Western Balkans fulfill their aspirations for European and Euro Atlantic Integration.
We're hopeful that that begins with North Macedonia and Albania being given the opportunity to open accession negotiations with the European Union.
We (would) then like to see Serbia and Kosovo return to the negotiating table and reach an agreement on normalizing their relationship, and of course we'd like to see Bosnia-Herzegovina continue the reform process and move closer on its European and Euro-Atlantic path as well.
It's a big agenda. There's a lot of work to do but I'm committed to staying in close partnership with the region and helping those countries.
As you mentioned, getting Kosovo and Serbia to restart the talk is one of the priorities. How?
Well I think the first thing that we need to do is wait until Kosovo has its elections on October 6th. They'll then be in a process of government formation.
We will make clear our expectation that the next government of Kosovo is a pro-dialogue government, that's one that's prepared to suspend the tariffs that are an obstacle to the resumption of the dialogue process, that's prepared to put together an empowered negotiating team that is prepared to engage with Serbia at the negotiating table, seriousness of purpose to achieve an agreement on normalizing relationship.
The United States will be with them, together, to every step of this process.
But Kosovo needs to take control of its own destiny.
What is your expectation of the October 6 election?
Well, it's really up to the people of Kosovo.
But whatever political party emerges in the polls to be in a position to try and put together a coalition.
We hope that that party will move quickly towards government formation and toward putting together a coalition committed to reengage in the dialogue process, in serious fashion.
The sticky points seem to be one, Kosovo's tariffs against Serbia imports; and two, Serbia's diplomatic campaign to block Kosovo. What will the U.S. do about it? What are the possible solutions?
Well, what we'd like to see is we'd like to see the next Kosovo government recognize that its priority is a deal with Serbia on normalization, and suspending the tariffs is part of that.
We're hopeful that Serbia will then respond with some incentives on its part and that would include potentially suspending the derecognition campaign against Kosovo.
And with that as a basis: tariff suspension and termination of the derecognition campaign, the parties can go back to the negotiating table in a positive atmosphere, with an eye toward getting to an agreement.