Escobar speaks from Belgrade: Immediate de-escalation

Escobar speaks from Belgrade: Immediate de-escalation

Last night, together with Miroslav Lajčak, he met with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the previous day he was in Pristina with the EU's special envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

At the beginning of the address, Escobar said that he is not visiting the region only because of the crisis in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, but also because of the numerous issues and cooperation that the US has with the region.

He said that the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is within the competence of the EU and that the US respects that.

It is necessary to immediately de-escalate the situation, for the Kosovo police to move away from the municipal buildings in the north of Kosovo, but also for the protesting Serbs to move away.

He also said that he hopes that there will be new local elections in Kosovo, as well as that the president of Serbia told him that he will use his influence to convince Serbs to participate in repeated elections.

He then pointed out that in the conversation with President Vučić, he clearly indicated that turning his back on the agreement means turning his back on Europe, with all the consequences in terms of the failure of further integrations and closer cooperation with Europe, which, as he pointed out, is a serious consequence in itself.

"First of all, we have to immediately calm the tensions, which means that we hope that the mayors will not try to use those municipal buildings and that the Kosovo police will withdraw from the buildings, but also that the Serbian demonstrators will leave those locations. And if there are new elections, and when there are new elections, Serbs should participate in them without any preconditions,'' said Escobar.

He pointed out that President Vučić said that he will do everything to use his influence so that the Serbs participate again in the elections in the north of Kosovo and Metohija.

Escobar stated that he expects the dialogue between the EU's special envoy for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, and the government in Pristina to continue after he leaves Belgrade.

"I hope that they will recognize that there is one consequence, which I indicated, which is that, as I said, turning your back on the European proposal means turning your back on the EU, including the United Kingdom and the USA. We, as their friends, encourage them to harmonize with us and achieve regional stability,'' Escobar said.

He added that "if Pristina does not want a partnership, then it will move away from the alliance with NATO, which in itself is a big consequence".