The US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Richard R. Verma, is staying in Kosovo on Friday to discuss a number of issues, including the Brussels dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade on the normalization of relations.
Verma will meet on Friday morning with the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, in her office in Pristina.
He is visiting Kosovo as part of the tour he is developing in the Western Balkans, where he stayed in Albania on Thursday, while he will end it with a stop in Serbia on Saturday, the US State Department announced.
His visit is taking place about ten days before the Biden administration ends its term and President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
According to DASH, in Kosovo, he will discuss the normalization of Kosovo's relations with Serbia through dialogue facilitated by the EU, the strengthening of governance and the rule of law, as well as the promotion of economic growth and energy security for the benefit of all citizens of Kosovo.
Kosovo and Serbia have been holding a dialogue, under the mediation of the EU, for the normalization of relations since 2011. The dialogue is also supported by the USA.
They reached an agreement on the normalization of relations in February 2023 in Brussels, and agreed to an annex for its implementation in Ohrid, North Macedonia that year.
However, neither party has taken steps to implement it, and the US has repeatedly asked both Kosovo and Serbia to implement the agreement.
According to the announcement, Verma will also thank the Government of Kosovo for its strong support to Ukraine and the help given to Afghans in need.
Kosovo accepted nearly 2,000 Afghans after the Taliban took power in their country in the summer of 2021.
At the time, their relocation was done at the request of the United States Government.
While most of them have already left Kosovo, Kosovo's Interior Ministry told Radio Free Europe in October that "a small number of them" still remain in Kosovo, but did not say how many.
Likewise, Kosovo sheltered Ukrainian journalists after Russia launched the unprovoked invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022, and followed the policy of the United States and the European Union by imposing sanctions on Moscow.
In this visit, Verma also aims to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the countries of the Western Balkans on their way to Euro-Atlantic integration and the deepening of regional cooperation, the announcement states./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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