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The State Department issued this Joint Statement
of Special Presidential Envoy Richard Grenell, Ambassador Philip
Kosnett, and Special Representative for the Western Balkans Matthew
Palmer on Kosovo yesterday:
The United States stands with the people of
Kosovo. We commend the continued efforts of the health professionals
and others who are working hard, at great risk, to reduce the
progress of COVID-19 in Kosovo. In this time of uncertainty, we urge
Kosovo’s leaders to follow Kosovo’s Constitution and the rule of
law. We are committed to working with any government formed through
the constitutional process.
In addition, we continue to urge Kosovo’s leaders
to lift the tariffs completely. We believe the tariffs are harming
the people of Kosovo by hindering regional cooperation against
COVID-19 – including by delaying the entry into Kosovo of needed
supplies – and hindering economic growth.
We want to make clear there is no secret plan for
land swaps between Kosovo and Serbia, as some have speculated.
Special Presidential Envoy Richard Grenell has never seen nor
discussed such a plan. The U.S. Government’s focus on supporting the
recent agreements to re-establish air, rail, and highway connections
between Kosovo and Serbia aims to improve the economy and create
economic momentum. We believe this momentum will give new energy to
a dialogue process that would lead to mutual recognition.
This is at least in part a response to Shaun
Byrnes’ A Bad Deal posted here two weeks ago, but it is also an
attempt to justify the Trump Administration’s unfriendly policy
toward Kosovo’s Albin Kurti-led government.
Let’s take it para by para:
That phrase “stands with the people of” is a
tip-off, as it is used to distinguish between the people and the
government of a foreign country. It’s what the Americans say about
adversaries like Iran: we stand with the Iranian people. The US
embassy put out an unusual statement supporting the holding of the
no-confidence vote that brought down Prime Minister Kurti’s
government earlier this week. This happened in the face of European
opposition to the no-confidence vote. The bottom line is clear: at a
moment when the Kosovo government was confronting the Covid-19
challenge, the Trump Administration decided nevertheless to push for
the government to fall.
Urging the complete unilateral lifting of the
tariffs ignores a basic principle of diplomacy: reciprocity. The
Trump Administration is asking Kosovo to meet a Serbian demand
without anything in return. What Pristina has sought is suspension
of the de-recognition campaign that Serbia has conducted worldwide.
Is it really too much to ask that a country that wants Kosovo to buy
its goods to stop trying to get other countries to reverse their
recognition of Kosovo? In any event, Kurti did lift some of the
tariffs unilaterally and indicated a willingness to go further,
without the slightest sign of reciprocity on Serbia’s part. Where is
the pressure on Serbia to reciprocate?
The notion that Grenell has never seen a plan
is not credible. Several, of uncertain origins, have been published.
Presidents Thaci and Vucic have both referred to land swap
discussions. Even if the US was not involved in those (which is
unlikely), US intelligence will have reported on them, including any
maps that were exchanged. Grenell is the acting Director of National
Intelligence. It is notable that Kosnett and Palmer are not
associated with this denial of having seen a plan. It suggests they
have.
Like many government statements, this one tells us
more by what it omits than by what it includes, but there is one
important inclusion: the line at the end referring to mutual
recognition. Note there too is an omission. If land/people swaps are
off the table, it should have read “mutual recognition within their
current borders” or “mutual recognition of sovereignty and
territorial integrity.” What they don’t say counts.
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