A letter made public: Washington warned Pristina a year ago

A letter made public: Washington warned Pristina a year ago

The request for the abolition of the 100% tariffs on Serbian goods was very clear, as well as a warning that, until they did, relations with the Kosovo authorities would not be restored, and the possibility of reconsidering other, not only security, co-operation with Pristina was mentioned.

Given that Pristina's response to these requests was rather mild, President Trump and other senior State Department officials have repeatedly spoken on the same subject.

For the past ten days, we have witnessed new direct demands for the suspension of the taxes made by a personal envoy of the US president, Richard Grenell, and addressed to the new Kosovo government, led by Albin Kurti, but it does not give the impression that the effect is much greater than it was in the previous year, Kosovo online writes, and reminds that the introduction of the tariffs has had major consequences on the already fragile relations between Belgrade and Pristina and completely halted dialogue and attempts to reach an agreement on mutual relations.

A European Union-mediated dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo over normalizing ties stalled after the previous Kosovo government imposed the 100% taxes on Serbian goods in protest of Serbia's blockade of Kosovo in the International Red Cross and other international organizations.

Here's full transcript of the letter

"As President Trump wrote in his December 2018 letter, this is the moment of opportunity to advance Kosovo's future as a stable, prosperous and secure country by normalizing relations with Serbia and taking a key step toward integration with Europe-Atlantic institutions.

We have since expressed our concerns that certain actions, including the imposition of tariffs on Serbian and Bosnian products, could threaten this goal. These actions undermine the United States' ability to continue to collaborate with you on the wide range of shared objectives.

After our requests to suspend the tariffs went unheeded, we have decided to take steps to show our concern, including with regard to our security partnership. To begin with, we have chosen to cancel the planned travel of Iowa National Guard General Orr to Kosovo.

His visit was intended to focus on bilateral security cooperation. Given the unhelpful actions your government has taken, it would be inappropriate for such a visit to occur. We will be looking carefully at other aspects of our cooperation and reviewing if they should be curtailed.

Kosovo has no better friend than the United States. We have worked for many years to realize a future in which the people of Kosovo can live as they choose, in peace. Kosovo's struggle for freedom captured the imagination of Americans. Thousands of U.S. diplomats and soldiers have been personally involved in trying to build a future for Kosovo.

It is incredible that after all we have done together, Kosovo values our friendship so lightly as to ignore our advice. The United States continues to stand ready to help and support Kosovo to reach a comprehensive normalization agreement with Serbia, centered at mutual recognition, which is durable, implementable and benefits both sides.

For the last twenty years, this has been an impossible goal. Although still difficult, it is a road that must be travelled to reach a future of security and prosperity.

Our intent is to see that Serbia, as well as Kosovo, acts responsibly to get the Dialogue process back on track. The first step on this road must be suspending the tariffs. Until you have done so, we cannot restore our relationship to our previous robust level".