Serbia-Kosovo: What Will Be Discussed At the White House?

By Leon Hartwell

On September 3, 2020, the White House will host talks between Serbia and Kosovo in an attempt to promote the normalization of relations between the two states. President Donald Trump may make an appearance, depending on how the dialogue evolves. What can be expected from the White House talks?

Economic talks

The White House talks will largely be limited to economic normalization and it will not address thorny political issues between Serbia and Kosovo.

According to a special advisor to the U.S. president, Trump decided to focus on economic issues because past mediation processes have failed.

The source stated that “we’re kind of stuck on political discussions and we keep [on] pounding the same issues over and over without much progress.”

Consequently, the Trump Administration decided to “flip the script” by solely focusing on “economic normalization” to see whether it would be possible to create different results.

Following his appointment as Trump’s special envoy for the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, Richard Grenell brokered three agreements between the two states. The agreements focused on air, rail and highway connectivity to facilitate the flow of goods and people between the Serbia and Kosovo.

“On Thursday, … we’re going to further those three agreements and then add a whole bunch of issues to the discuss that would create commerce, that would create economic development and jobs” said a special advisor to the U.S. president. What exactly those additional issues are remain unclear.

The source further hinted that failure to make progress at the White House could come with costs:

“The only thing that we’re going to demand is: If you want the United States’ help, if you want development dollars from the United States, then there needs to be progress on the economic front. We don’t want to waste our money…”.

The idea of controversial “land swaps” between Serbia and Kosovo will not on the table during the White House talks.

A possible Trump appearance

Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vučić recently announced that Trump may even make an appearance during the White House talks, but that would largely depend on the progress.

Furthermore, a special advisor to the U.S. president stressed that Trump “has been a part of the [Serbia-Kosovo] discussions” on a regular basis. Apparently, Trump has made proposals on what the U.S. should “push forward” and “how we prioritize these economic projects.”

EU representation

The White House talks and the upcoming Brussels dialogue on September 7 are not formally coordinated with one another.

The EU will not be represented at the White House while the US will not be represented in Brussels.

A special advisor to the U.S. president says that “we are not a member of the European Union and are not involved in the very important process that the EU has with each of the parties. They have their own process. We are supportive of our friends in Europe.”

Dr Leon Hartwell is a Title VIII Transatlantic Leadership Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) in Washington D.C. He specializes in mediation, negotiation and conflict resolution. Twitter: @LeonHartwell