"The whole process around Kosovo is unfair": Former US ambassador speaks about Quint's statement

The whole process around Kosovo is unfair, and the culmination of the international community's hypocrisy is the invitation to Belgrade and Pristina to return to dialogue without sanctioning Pristina for disrespecting agreements and imposing taxes, says former US Ambassador William Montgomery, commenting on the Quint statement.

"I've received your five questions and my answer is that all five are quite in place and that I fully understand why Tanjug and the Serb people want to hear honest answers to them. However, the unpleasant reality is that this whole process is not an honest one. It is a sham," Montgomery pointed out in his reply to Tanjug's questions sent after the statement of the five most influential western countries.

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According to him, the US foreign policy community as well as many important players in the EU, first and foremost Angela Merkel, made up their decision about Kosovo in 1999 and have not changed it one bit in 20 years.

"The truth I am talking about is clear since the Brussels agreement reached a few years ago. The Kosovo Albanians did not like the agreement and simply refused to implement it. Most importantly, the Community of Serb Municipalities did not take root. In the face of that refusal and in the face of the unilateral implementation of 100 percent tariffs on Serbian imports, the International community has done nothing," Montgomery said.

This tells everybody who cares that the word of the Kosovo Albanians and the offices of the EU are meaningless.

"Why on earth should the Serbian side make any additional concessions in return for empty promises," he asked.

The culmination of the international community's hypocrisy, he points out, is to urge Belgrade and Pristina to return to the negotiating table, while not imposing strict sanctions on Kosovo Albanians for not implementing agreements and for counterproductive actions such as Haradinaj's taxes.

Photo: Wikipedia/Department of State

Montgomery stresses that he is absolutely certain that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, with strong support from the EU and the US, could find a lasting solution to the Kosovo problem.

"But there was no support. On the contrary. Angela Merkel personally blocked the only possible solution acceptable to both parties. Afterwards, Haradinaj's position in Kosovo strengthened and the chances of a solution were gone," says the former US diplomat.

Haradinaj, Mongtomeri says, is a major source of instability in the region and the absence of reactions to his moves is a big mistake.

According to him, the problem that Serbia currently has is not with the US administration, but with the European Union.

"Admittedly, it is true that the US foreign policy community still has a very favorable view of the Kosovo Albanians. That will not change," he added.

"Therefore, the most Serbia can hope for in the near future is a kind of 'frozen conflict', which could escalate with a single provocation or incident," Montgomery concluded in a kind of ope-ed in response to several questions Tanjug had sent him.

Among other things, he writes - if there are no "red lines" in the dialogue, as US officials have said, why is it a problem that Serbia is lobbying against Kosovo's independence, which is a space where Serbia can seek to satisfy at least some of its interests; what would make history, as suggested by Edward Joseph; and can that be found along the same lines as his own and the interest of the Serb people and their state.

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(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)