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American Senator Chris Murphy called on Kosovo and Serbia to commit to improving the situation in the municipalities in the north by organizing and holding new elections.
In an interview for the Serbian-language service of the Voice of America, Senator Murphy emphasizes that a series of measures such as holding new elections in the municipalities inhabited by a majority of Serbs in the northern part of Kosovo, the withdrawal of special units and the release of those arrested, will lead to a reduction in tensions.
He also stressed that Serbia should encourage Serbian residents to participate in the elections and not interfere in the electoral process.
" If we go down the path of expansion, withdrawing special police units and organizing new elections, I think we have an opportunity to gradually turn the dialogue in the right direction," stated Mr. Murphy.
The United States, along with the main states of the European Union, have added their demands to Kosovo and Serbia to escalate the situation in the three northern municipalities of Kosovo, which recently turned into an arena of clashes between Kosovo police forces, Serbian protesters and peacekeeping forces. of NATO. The situation in the north escalated after the elections held in April, which were boycotted by the Serbs.
The Albanian mayors of the northern municipalities of Kosovo, opposed by the Serbs, took office with the support of the police.
Senator Murphy emphasized that he would prefer the US to take a more active role in de-escalating the situation in the region.
" I want us to confirm the new assistant secretary for Europe (James O'Brien) as soon as possible, in part because President Biden's nominee for this position has long experience in the region. Very soon we will have a confirmed senior State Department official who knows Kosovo, knows Serbia, knows the region and will be able to support the efforts of our embassy as well as the work that Mr. Escobar is doing. We have a real opportunity for the US to increase engagement since President Biden's new appointee is a well-known and experienced name in the region ," he said.
Senator Murphy was also asked about the US decision to sanction Serbian intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, a pro-Russian Serbian official close to Serbian President Vucic.
" If Serbia really wants a future as part of Europe, it cannot have its intelligence chief engaged in open coordination with the Russians at this time. And we have made it clear not only to Serbia, but to all our friends, that there will be consequences if they decide not to join the sanctions, if they are part of secret activities with the Russians. We want Serbia to be part of the Euro-Atlantic movement, we want them to have a European future ," he said.
Mr. Murphy said it is in Serbia's interest to send the message that Russian aggression in Ukraine cannot be tolerated.
But a former American lawmaker, the former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives, Eliot Engel, criticizes the State Department's stance on the way it is approaching the recent tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.
In an opinion article published in the magazine 'Foreign Policy' on Tuesday, Mr. Engel writes that "The United States is pampering Vučić, a bully semi-autocrat, and that along the way, they themselves are maintaining a somewhat bully attitude towards Kosovo , putting pressure on the smaller and weaker country".
"This attitude does not honor the United States and the time has come to change ", says former lawmaker Engel./ VOA
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