Daniel Hamilton for Albanian Post: “Land swaps are not the way to make progress in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue”

“Personally, I do not think that land swaps are the way to make progress in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue,” said Daniel Hamilton, Senior Associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, in a written interview with the Albanian Post.

In the journey that awaits Kosovo, Hamilton considers that a high priority for Kosovo, as well as the countries of the Western Balkans, should be “dealing with corruption and moving all of our societies from sickness to health”.

Among the “many reasons”, as Hamilton puts it, that have influenced the Kosovo issue with Serbia to remain an unresolved issue for a long time, he points to the failure of the European Union and the United States to pay due attention to this issue.

“Or maybe the latter two were misled by the strange antics of Richard Grenell”.

However, Hamilton points out that the EU and the USA have also been disturbed by the vast corruption and state capture seen among many elites in the region – being obstacles to the latter two’s efforts.

“The USA and the EU will not impose a solution, as the solution must come from the people of the countries involved. They can help facilitate this dialogue, but ultimately Kosovo and Serbia must lead the way”.

Hamilton considers that with the arrival of Joe Biden at the helm of the United States, there is a greater possibility of reaching a final solution for Kosovo.

It is too early to determine what approach the Biden Administration will have regarding Kosovo’s problem with Serbia, he says.

“Biden Administration’s approach will significantly depend on Kosovo’s own elections and of course Serbian views”.

Joe Biden seems to know the Western Balkans and Kosovo-related issues better than any American president, according to Hamilton, since Biden has visited and is regularly updated on Kosovo’s issues.

Biden is likely to pay more attention to the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue as “he knows issues of European security, and he spent his career addressing ways to bring the Balkans to Europe”.

“I am only speaking in a personal capacity, but the Biden Administration is likely to want to clear away obstacles to progress the Western Balkan countries can make to deal with border issues, corruption, economic challenges and other problems stopping the countries the Western Balkans countries from continuing down the path to full integration with the European Union and NATO”.