Serbian politicians, after having taken pictures smiling with US mediators in the Serbian-Kosovo negotiations, stated for the media that the pressure on them was immense and aggressive, but that “they will not surrender”, that they are “fighting” and similar typical Balkan statements of “heroism”.
by: XHABIR DERALLA
Work for the youth, removing tariff barriers and procedures, new roads, railways and air flight connections between Serbia and Kosovo, normalization of the relations, in short – economy before politics, are all part of the draft agreement that the US mediators have offered on the first day of the Kosovo-Serbian negotiations in Washington, on September 3.
Vucic on Instagram, and some of his partners in the Serbian government on other networks, have come out with populist (nationalist) messages. “My message to everyone in our beautiful Serbia is: Surrender was never an option! Long live Serbia!”. The video is with a poor sound. Vucic a bit insecure, kind of scared, and so a transcript is needed in order to understand what he is saying. But this can be expected, he himself in the statement says he is located several tens of meters from the White House.
Instagram “heroism” of Vucic
What’s the matter? Item 10 in the document offered by the US mediators refers to mutual recognition between Serbia and Kosovo in order to make possible also the economic measures for prosperity of the region. Serbian politicians, after having taken pictures smiling with US mediators in the Serbian-Kosovo negotiations, stated for the media that the pressure on them was immense and aggressive, but that “they will not surrender”, that they are “fighting” and similar typical Balkan statements of “heroism”.
Richards Grenell’s Tweet
Richards Grenell, US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy, replied to this with a short tweet: Not true. It seems that this is just how much this new stunt of Vucic deserves, who is beating his chest (quietly) that he will not surrender, although no one is asking this from him.
Headlines in some of Macedonian media about Vucic’s “disobedience”
The media is a story in itself. Serbian headlines are mixed, but a large part of them speak about the exceptional opportunities that the agreement offers. Some of the Macedonian headlines – “more Serbian” than the Serbian ones, I would say, most of the first hundred headlines on this topic on August 3 can be brought down to the following: “Vucic has brutally turned down the US proposal for recognizing Kosovo!”
Zoran Zaev blazed a trail. The Balkans are stabilizing. It is certain that normalization will come, and perhaps even mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia. If not in Washington, then in Brussels, where the negotiations are moving to on September 7. Good Luck!
