The United States want the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to end in mutual recognition, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday (26 July).
Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti are in Washington, D.C. to meet with Blinken and sign a $236 million energy deal with the United States.
“We talked about how Kosovo can strengthen its presence in the international arena. We discussed how important it is for Kosovo to be in NATO. We also discussed the constructive role that Kosovo is playing in the dialogue with Serbia. The US, as a partner that supports independence and territorial integrity, has always been vocal in this regard. Like Biden, Blinken has been clear that the dialogue process should focus on mutual recognition,” Osmani said after meeting with Blinken.
On Twitter, the Secretary of State thank Kosovo for its hospitality with regards to Afghan refugees and its support of Ukraine.
“Met today with President Osmani and Prime Minister Kurti of Kosovo. The United States supports Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic and international integration and the EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue,” he wrote.
Kosovo and Serbia have been engaged in a dialogue for the so-called normalization of relations since 2011, which has yielded poor results despite some 33 agreement signed but implemented partially and only selectively. The thorny issue of mutual recognition, vehemently opposed by Serbia, has never been on the dialogue table.
Following a European Parliament report which stated that any final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia must end in mutual recognition, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed that his government has no desire to recognize Kosovo’s independence.
