In a hearing held in the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, a greater commitment from President Donald Trump’s administration to the Western Balkans was requested, including support for Kosovo’s membership in NATO and recognition of its sovereignty by Serbia.
The Republican Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, Keith Self, stressed that the Western Balkans remain the most unstable region in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Analysts and experts invited to the hearing, including Edward P. Joseph of Johns Hopkins University and Max Primorac of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, described Belgrade’s stance as an obstacle to the Western order in the region.
“Serbia must accept the Western order for the region. Only the path to NATO would end the impasse, because Serbia would have no other options. The campaign of disrespect and dependence on Russia and China would be futile,” Joseph said.
Primorac praised Kosovo for its pro-Western approach and embassy move to Jerusalem, stressing that any agreement with Serbia must include recognition of Kosovo. He also spoke about the importance of appointing new US ambassadors to the region to enable sustainable economic and trade agreements.
“Any agreement with Serbia should also include recognition. But the administration should appoint new ambassadors there as soon as possible,” Primorac said.
Analyst Luke Coffey from the Hudson Institute spoke about the need to remove Serbia from Russia’s orbit and increase American pressure on Belgrade.
In Chairman Self’s closed questions, the three experts confirmed that US State Department bureaucrats see Prime Minister Albin Kurti as an obstacle and that the US should put pressure on Serbia to stop obstacles to Kosovo’s membership in international organizations.
They also confirmed that Serbia is unfairly disabling the addresses of Albanians in the Valley and is violating the right of the Albanian language in its institutions. /Telegrafi/