“People across the Balkans have been confused for months because the United States (U.S.) has completely changed its policy towards the region. Apparently, issues of democracy and the rule of law are no longer important to Washington,” writes the press in German.
The authorities in Kosovo have lifted the ban on the entry of trucks and goods from Serbia that was introduced three days ago, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports, referring to RTS. The Kosovo border service checks trucks and cars from Serbia more closely, but they are allowed to pass, according to the report, reports DW.
The statement of the special American envoy, Gabriel Escobar, was also reported, who said that the police officers “were either kidnapped or ended up in Serbia unintentionally” and that “they should be released without any preconditions”.
Namely, the newspaper Zeit states that Kosovo Force (KFOR)announced on Friday evening that, after investigating the incident, “it failed to determine whether the arrest of the three policemen was on the territory of Kosovo or Serbia.” That international military mission reminded both sides that “they have to coordinate with KFOR the actions of their security forces in the border area – and that did not happen in this case,” reports the German newspaper.
The Viennese Standard writes about increasing pressure from the U.S. and the European Union (EU) on Pristina:
“The Kosovo government does not want to give in under the pressure of Western embassies, because it wants to show that the north of Kosovo is also part of Kosovo’s territory. This is precisely what is called into question by the calls of the Western ambassadors for the Kosovo police to withdraw”.
Then it was added:
“Especially American representatives in the Balkans, such as the ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill, have been standing behind Vucic for months and criticizing Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The U.S. is thus abandoning one of its most important democratic allies in the region, probably the most pro-American country in the world, Kosovo, and supporting the pro-Russian Vucic regime, which rules autocratically.”
“Damaged image of the EU”
“The image of the EU as a neutral mediator has been damaged. The EU and the U.S. believe that the responsibility for the escalation lies almost exclusively with Pristina,” said Prof. Florian Biber from the University of Graz.
According to Biber, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, clearly made strategic mistakes and is much less ready to compromise than his predecessors, but the attitude (of the U.S.and the EU) towards Belgrade is too uncritical considering the provocations.
This is because, according to the Austrian professor, they hope to get that country out of the Russian sphere of influence.
“The West is putting pressure on Kosovo, because it thinks it can afford it. That doesn’t work in Serbia, and it creates a fatal image of one-sidedness,” Biber concludes, N1 reports.
E.Dz.
