The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has encouraged Serbia to take "strong steps forward" to reach a comprehensive agreement with Kosovo that includes mutual recognition between the two countries.
President Biden did this in a letter sent to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic., On the eve of Serbia's Citizenship Day, where he promised US support for Serbia's European integration process and for reaching an agreement with Kosovo.
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| The letter of Biden for Alexandar Vucic |
Full letter:
His Excellency Aleksandar Vucic
President of the Republic of Serbia
Belgrade
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the American people, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and your fellow citizens as you celebrate Serbia's national day on February 15.
As we commemorate 140 years of partnership between our two countries, the United States maintains its enduring commitment to promoting economic cooperation. regional stability, and democratic values. We remain steadfast in our support for Serbia's goal of European integration and encourage you to continue taking the hard steps forward to reach that aim - including instituting necessary reforms and reaching a comprehensive normalization agreement with Kosovo centered on mutual recognition. The strength of our relationship is built on a deep history of people-to-people ties, fighting as allies in both World Wars, and we celebrate the great contributions Serbians have made to American society across many fields. We also value our close cooperation in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic as we jointly confront this unprecedented global challenge.
I look forward to working with you to deepen the bonds of friendship between our countries and to strengthen the relationship between Serbia and the United States. I wish you and the people of Serbia a joyful celebration.
Sincerely,
Joseph R. Biden Jr.
While Vucic reacted to the letter of the American president, Joe Biden.
In an interview given a little while ago, Vucic said that mutual recognition between Serbia and Kosovo is not written in any international act, while adding that his task is to protect the interests of Serbia, where he ironically said that this is more important than Albanian-American desires.
"I have received a congratulatory message from President Biden. Thanks for the congratulations. As for mutual recognition, this does not appear in any act of any world organization. We understand that this is a new American policy. There have been attempts to impose that term as something we must accept as the ultimate solution in Washington. I have already told you once in the face of what I think about recognition and my answer will be no different. For us, this is a much more important thing than the Albanian and American desires. We also have desires, but also another reality, and we have a freedom-loving tradition of our people. This is not pleasant because it is clear that the entire US foreign policy initiative will go in that direction of reaching a Kosovo-Serbia agreement," Vucic said..
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