"Albanian side insisted on U.S. involvement"

1 October 2010 | 19:28 | Source: Politika WASHINGTON -- "If you want America in 
the finish, it must be involved in the negotiations from the very beginning", 
Daniel Serwer says, according to Belgrade daily Politika.

The U.S., along with the European Union, will be involved from the very start 
in the coming negotiations between Belgrade and Priština on practical issues 
and that was, as far as Washington is concerned, a decision that was in a 
certain way forced by insistence of the Albanian side which had its own, easily 
conceivable reasons.

This is the standpoint of Daniel Serwer, vice president of the U.S. Institute 
of Peace, a national institution funded by the Congress, mission of which is 
prevention and resolution of international conflicts. 

Officially, the visit of Hillary Clinton to the region, or should we say 
Belgrade, and, as she personally stated yesterday at a joint press conference 
with Chief of the EU diplomacy Catherine Ashton - Priština – has not been 
announced yet, and the Department of State remained silent to the questions we 
had today regarding the agenda of the upcoming talks. 

American diplomacy is a huge and complex mechanism, with slow moving wheels, 
but once they are set in motion they produce a predictable outcome. Following 
yesterday’s meeting between Clinton and Ashton, it has become obvious that the 
USA will take an active role in the dialogue between Serbs and Albanians 
because, Daniel Serwer explained, "if you want America in the finish, it must 
be involved in the process from the very beginning". 

According to his opinion, the EU wanted to untangle the Serbo-Albanian knot on 
their own, Washington may have wanted to “wash their hands of it”, but that, 
from the standpoint of politics and interests the involved parties had, was 
simply not possible – nor would it be, says the expert, good from the 
viewpoints of Belgrade and Priština. 

The main reason why America might want to turn this over to the Europeans is 
the very tight agenda of the local diplomacy. One could see how the agenda 
looked like from yesterday's talks State Secretary Clinton had not only with 
Catherine Ashton, but also German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido 
Westerwelle. 

In a relatively short time span, several very important processes should be 
initiated, maintained and finished. The list contains, among other things, a 
new strategic concept of the NATO, the adoption of which is scheduled for the 
summit that is going to be held on November 19 - 20. In addition, high on the 
priority list is Middle East peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, 
where Obama's diplomacy wants to achieve a tangible result. 

Then there is Afghanistan, where in less then a year, in increasingly difficult 
circumstances, the conditions should made for gradual withdrawal of some 
150,000 US and coalition troops in July 2011. And finally – and not necessarily 
in the order listed – the USA and its European partners are seeking to renew a 
diplomatic process outcome of which would be restraining Iran's nuclear 
ambitions. 

The Kosovo problem in that context becomes quite relative, even though 
relevant, the fact convincingly demonstrated by Hillary Clinton's personal 
involvement and the upcoming visit to Belgrade and Priština, which, according 
to unofficial information, should commence on October 12. 

Daniel Serwer believes that the start of the dialogue between Belgrade and 
Priština on practical issues, which are numerous, would bring about a new 
political fact: that the Serbian side will accept the legitimacy of Priština 
authorities as a fact. 

However, he warns that the toughest decision – one in which Serbia is to 
recognize sovereignty and integrity of Kosovo - will inevitably find its way to 
the agenda. That will have to happen prior to Serbia's ascension to the EU, for 
which, in his opinion, "Serbia is technically well-equipped, so there is a 
chance to make up for the lost time, but first some tough political decisions 
need to be made". 

In practical negotiations, a mitigating circumstance according to Serwer is the 
fact that some negotiators know each other very well, as they participated in 
many of the agreements immediately after the war, mediated by the US Institute 
of Peace. 

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