Richard Grenell, the US President's envoy for Special Missions, criticized Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani on Sunday for what he called "manipulating the words" of US President Donald Trump.
He referred to a statement by Osman, made earlier this week in Washington, during which he confirmed President Trump's statements that he had prevented a possible escalation from Serbia to Kosovo "in recent weeks."
"Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work for peace and economic normalization between Kosovo and Serbia in 2019 and 2020 through the signing of the Washington Agreement in the Oval Office. Osmani was not part of that agreement. The claim that there was anything new is absurd," Grenell said in a post on X.
In November 2019, Grenell was appointed by Trump as the special envoy for negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, and he has been closely involved in this process.
In Trump's first term, more precisely in 2020, Kosovo and Serbia signed an agreement to normalize economic relations - known as the Washington Agreement - which has never been fully implemented.
Trump himself has mentioned Kosovo and Serbia on several occasions in recent weeks, saying he has prevented a conflict between them, but without providing details about the time period.
"Serbia, you know, was preparing for war, with a group that I won't even mention, because it didn't happen. We managed to prevent it, but I have a friend in Serbia who said they're going to go to war again. I'm not going to say it's Kosovo, but it's Kosovo. They were preparing for a serious war, we prevented it. We prevented it for trade. They wanted to trade with the United States. I said: we don't trade with those who fight," Trump declared on June 29.
Radio Free Europe has contacted the White House for clarification regarding these statements, but has not received a response.
The acting Government of Kosovo has not responded either, when asked what kind of escalation of the situation is being discussed.
NATO's mission in Kosovo, KFOR, has told Radio Free Europe that the Western Balkans continue to have strategic importance for the alliance and it is committed to regional stability.
However, KFOR did not want to comment on the recent statements of Osman and Trump, saying that they should be referred to Kosovo and US institutions.
Following Grenell's statements, Osmani announced a press conference, immediately after returning from the United States to Kosovo, in the coming days.
Serbian authorities have also said that President Osmani is falsely accusing Serbia and manipulating Trump's words.
"Unfortunately, it seems that manipulation and fabrication are the only way for Osmani and Pristina to get Washington's attention," Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric wrote in a post on X.
Osman's statements were also rejected by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić on July 12.
"We haven't deployed any soldiers, we haven't started any machinery, we don't even think about it, we want to work, to build."
These statements come at a time when tensions between Kosovo and Serbia remain high, especially in northern Kosovo, where the majority of the population is Serb.
The escalation of the situation in northern Kosovo culminated in September 2023 when an armed group of Serbs, led by Milan Radoićić - former vice-president of the Serbian List - attacked the Kosovo Police in the village of Banjska and killed a police sergeant.
Kosovo has described the attack as terrorist and accused Serbia of being behind it - something official Belgrade has denied./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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