James Ker-Lindsay, a professor at the London School of Economics, has stated that the mention of the idea of a territorial exchange now is based purely on speculation and not on any concrete facts.
“This was on the agenda earlier [during Trump’s first administration]. I don’t think there is any justification for talking about this issue,” Ker-Lindsay said.
“I think a lot will depend on who is in charge of his foreign policy team and whether they will be interested in the Balkans,” he added, speaking to Radio Free Europe (RFE).
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According to Ker-Lindsay, Trump is interested “only where he thinks he can achieve deals that make him look good.”
“And if he thinks the Balkans don’t offer him anything like that and doesn’t have anyone around him telling him they can do something in the Balkans, he won’t care,” Ker-Lindsay stated.
Kosovo and Serbia have been in negotiations for normalizing relations under the EU’s mediation since 2011.
They have reached numerous agreements, but many of them remain unimplemented, with both sides blaming each other for a lack of commitment.
Kurti and Vučić have not met since September 2023.
On the other hand, the EU has made it clear that their path to European integration depends exclusively on the normalization of relations.
The candidate for EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday that “the Western Balkans is a very important region” and that she will work to make the EU enlargement a reality.
