US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reaffirmed the United States’ support for Kosovo at a meeting with President Hashim Thaci and urged him to lift tariff barriers against imports from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Department of State said in a readout.
“Secretary Michael R. Pompeo met today with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci,” State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in the readout on Monday. “He urged Kosovo authorities to rescind the tariffs placed on imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Pompeo reaffirmed US support for a “sovereign, independent Kosovo” and discussed with Thaci the importance of enshrining rule of law and fostering robust economic growth to ensure Kosovo’s future success, the readout stated.
Pompeo also “encouraged Kosovo to reach a historic comprehensive normalization deal with Serbia under the EU-facilitated Dialogue process … and to work with Serbia to avoid provocations and de-escalate tensions,” Nauert said.
Normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia was the only way to clear the path to both countries’ future integration into the Western community of nations, Pompeo told Thaci, according to the readout.
(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
