Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has a diplomatic offensive planned for September, orchestrated to gather international support for the Serbian plan to come to an agreement with Kosovo, even though the actual proposal made by Serbia to the Albanian side has yet to become public.
Initially, President Vučić is set to visit Mitrovica at the beginning of September. According to a Serbian government official, quoted by B92, the purpose of this visit is to offer “support to Serbs living in Kosovo, to listen to the problems they face, to ask them whether they face threats to their safety, and guarantee more help.”
This meeting will be preceded by another one between President Vučić and Kosovo Serb representatives. This will be the second meeting in two months.
In September, President Vučić will also most likely hold another meeting with Kosovar President Hashim Thaçi. Spokesperson for High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, Maja Kocijančič stated that the parties agreed to this meeting during their last meeting, held in July. It is not yet known, however, whether the meeting will unquestionably take place and whether it will take place during Vučić’s visit to Kosovo.
In mid-September, President Vučić also plans on publicly addressing the Serbian nation regarding the resolution of the Kosova issue. During this addressed, he is expected to announce Serbia’s final stance on the agreement with Kosova.
In the same period he will also visit China. One of the visits principal aims, and a main topic of the discussions with Chinese officials, will be China’s support for Serbia with regards to the Kosovo agreement. A Serbian high official told newspaper Blic that Serbia expects China to reconfirm its support for Serbia in the United Nations Security Council.
However, it is important to note that the United Kingdom, which has just taken its turn at the head of the Security Council, hasn’t included the Kosovo issue on the Council’s August agenda, despite Russia and China’s demands for it to be discussed.
In the third week of September, the Serbian President will visit the USA. He will participate in the UN General Assembly session, during which he will hold a speech with Kosovo at its center. Serbian sources state that during this visit Vučić will meet with high officials of the Trump administration, though they haven’t specified whom.
At the end of July, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić visited the USA, where, among other things, they met National Security Advisor John Bolton, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, senators, and congressmen responsible for matters of foreign affairs. The dominant topic of all these talks was Kosovo.
International representatives facilitating the Kosovo–Serbia talks, including the European Union, have specified next Spring as an objective deadline for the reaching of a deal between the two nations.
