Brnabic: US officials did not come with ultimatum

NEWS 28.04.202214:09
Tanjug/ Strahinja Aćimović

Outgoing Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said on Thursday that visting US officials did not deliver any ultimatums during their recent visit to Belgrade.

She said that no one comes to Belgrade bringing threats and blackmail. “I haven’t heard that since 2017 when I took over as prime minister. We and the US have different views on sanctions against Russia and the senators and (assistnat State Secretary) Karen Donfried asked about that and our reply was principled and in line with the best interests of our state, people and economy,” she told the pro-regime TV Happy.

She said that the increasingly frequent visits to Serbia by American officials reflect the greater presence of the US in the Western Balkans and their fear of any crisis in eastern Europe spilling over into the region. “Out common interest lies in preserving peace and stability in the Western Balkans. I think we really do have friendly relations with the US even though we disagree on some key issues such as the status of Kosovo. When American officials came to Serbia earlier it looked like they were here to scold us over Kosovo and now they have a dose of respect,” Brnabic said and added that both Belgrade and Washington agree that the dialogue with Pristina shoould continue as soon as possible. “We also agreed that Pristina was not fully or at all hones in its intentions on the dialogue,” she said.