B92
December 14, 2022

Washington’s message to Belgrade: It cannot happen
US special representative for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar said US categorically opposes the return of Serbian forces to the north of Kosovo and Metohija

“We categorically reject it. We do not support that at all, Escobar said in an interview with Radio Free Europe, answering a journalist’s question about Belgrade’s announcement that it will ask [NATO’s] KFOR for the return of the Serbian army to northern Kosovo.

When asked what the US response would be if Belgrade really sent troops to the north of Kosovo, Escobar replied that he did not expect that to happen.

“I will underline, Kosovo has strong security guarantees from the US, which are manifested by participation in KFOR,” Escobar pointed out. When asked if he thinks that KFOR should remove the barricades in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, Escobar says that he expects them to be removed by the people who put them up.

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Escobar pointed out that he hopes that a solution will be reached soon and that the barricades in the north of Kosovo will soon be removed, as well as that the representatives of the Serbs who left the institutions will return to their positions.

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Tanjug News Agency
December 14, 2022

Dacic: Escobar’s statement not good

Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday he did not know why anyone would be against UN SC Resolution 1244 and noted that statements about which UN resolutions could and should be respected and which could not and should not were especially not good because they led to selectivity and double standards.

Dacic was commenting on a statement by US special Western Balkans envoy Gabriel Escobar, who has said the US categorically opposed a return of Serbian security forces to the north of Kosovo-Metohija.

Responding to questions from reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dacic said Serbia firmly stood by international commitments it had undertaken or had been imposed upon, and noted that UN SC Resolution 1244 allowed a return of Serbian forces to Kosovo-Metohija.

“We think the situation must be reviewed in an objective manner. Whatever anyone’s individual political opinion may be, it should be no obstacle to this being discussed in a serious manner within the UN system, so such statements are definitely not good, neither his (Escobar’s) nor (German FM Annalena) Baerbock’s,” Dacic said.