US ambassador: Serbia needs to think where its future is and whether neutral position is sustainable

Photo: Mateja Beljan

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The US ambassador in Belgrade, Christopher Hill, addressed journalists in Kneza Milosa Street today, after the unveiling of a memorial to US diplomat George Kennan.

After the official part of the ceremony, in which Deputy Mayor of Belgrade Goran Vesic also participated, journalists started asking questions about the most burning foreign policy issues.

"I think that Serbia should think about where its future lies, whether this neutral position is sustainable and make its decision that way. What happened in Ukraine, the brutal attack on that country and the continued killing of civilians is something that is completely unacceptable in this century. We have not seen such a development since the end of the Second World War. So we are all aware that the world has changed since February and that we all need to rethink where we are, what our position is and where we want to be in the future," said Ambassador Hill.

When asked by journalists what should be the priority - imposing sanctions against Russia or normalizing relations with so-called Kosovo, Hill said that it is not his role to dish out advice.

Photo: Mateja Beljan

"I think that is a question you should ask representatives of your government, I represent the US government here and I am not here to give advice, so you need to find answers to those questions with your authorities," Hill explained.

The questions also referred to relations between Belgrade and Pristina, i.e. whether he was surprised by the change in rhetoric that we could hear from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke of "mutual recognition."

"I wouldn't hang onto certain words now, for their precise meaning to be interpreted now. What's important is that Serbia and Kosovo are working on resolving mutual problems and establishing some relations within, of course, the completion of the Brussels dialogue, that this is about the essence and not so much about a choice of words. From this perspective, better relations between the US and Serbia, as well as good relations between the United States and the EU the kind of which we have not seen for a long time are very important to me and I would like to see more progress during the Brussels dialogue. But as someone who has already been involved in and participated in negotiations, I would say that issues and problems are really difficult and challenging and that they are usually even more difficult when they are discussed in public a lot."

(Telegraf.rs)