The United States Ambassador to Pristina, Jeffrey Hovenier, has expressed doubts about the commitment of Albin Kurti’s government to partnership with the United States.
Hovenier made these comments in an interview with “Radio Free Europe” on Tuesday, after being asked whether the U.S. considers Kurti a partner and whether Kurti considers the U.S. a partner, following recent – and ongoing – disagreements, particularly regarding the opening of the bridge over the Ibër River for vehicle traffic.
The U.S. and other Western countries have opposed the opening of the Ibër bridge, while the government is insisting on and has taken steps toward its opening.
“I cannot speak for how he views us. I can only say that from the perspective of the U.S. government, we have been challenged by the prime minister and his government in several ways,” Hovenier said.
However, on certain issues, the American diplomat emphasized that “we have a good and close partnership.”
“We have worked together on several important matters to improve Kosovo’s economy and have tried to help the country create an economic system that offers better well-being. We have made real progress with Kosovo’s state authorities in helping the relatively new government institutions to be more efficient in their work and to provide better services to citizens, particularly in the field of rule of law.”
But, regarding these issues, he stated, “I have to say that we have been challenged by the prime minister and his government, and I have to say that the quality of our partnership is not what we would hope it to be on some of these issues related to how they handle the northern issue and the dialogue.”
“This is not just my opinion. Recently, a U.S. Undersecretary of State was here, who spoke about the need and our hope for better coordination and cooperation. Jim O’Brien, our Assistant Secretary for Europe, has publicly spoken about this,” he recalled.
When asked how long the U.S. would allow itself to be challenged by Kosovo, he reiterated that Kosovo is a sovereign state and “we recognize it as such,” adding that “I don’t know if it is a matter of tolerance.”
“I think it is more about the quality of our partnership. We have doubts about how committed this government is to a partnership with us,” he said.
“When we talk to a government about things that can increase the risk to our soldiers and we are not convinced that we are getting an effective response,” Hovenier stressed, adding that “this affects our view of the extent to which this government is taking our concerns into account and how committed this government is to the partnership we want to have.”
