Episode 47: Can the US facilitate Kosovo-Serbia normalization?

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There has been a lot of talk in the last few months about pending progress in Serbia-Kosovo relations and the normalization process between the two countries. Donald Trump’s appointment of Richard Grenell as Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Peace Negotiations on the surface appears to be a move heading in the right direction. Yet, since being in this new role, Grenell (and others close to the Administration) has signaled a possible shift in US foreign policy in the region, hoping for a quick foreign policy win. With a change of government in Kosovo and a more assertive Serbia in the talks, can the US really facilitate this process?

In this episode of Talk Eastern Europe, Adam catches up with Sidita Kushi – an American scholar and author with New Eastern Europe. They discuss the role of Richard Grenell, how US policy is evolving to the detriment of Kosovo and what, if anything, the European Union can do in this process.

Resources
- “The dangers of enflaming false revisionist history in the Balkans” by Sidita Kushi. New Eastern Europe 27 May 2020. https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/05/27/the-dangers-of-enflaming-false-revisionist-history-in-the-balkans/

- “Richard Grenell: Dictating the pulse of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue” by Visar Xhambazi. New Eastern Europe 15 April 2020. https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/04/15/richard-grenell-dictating-the-pulse-of-the-kosovo-serbia-dialogue/

- What ‘Twiplomacy’ reveals about the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue by Leon Hartwell. New Eastern Europe July 9 2020 https://neweasterneurope.eu/2020/07/09/what-twiplomacy-reveals-about-the-serbia-kosovo-dialogue/

Music featured in the podcast:
Too Cool by Kevin MacLeod. Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4534-too-cool
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Talk Eastern Europe is a member of the EuroPod network. Learn more here: https://www.bullemedia.eu/europod

Talk Eastern Europe is produced by Maciej Makulski and Adam Reichardt. The podcast is affiliated with New Eastern Europe, published by the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław. Additional funding for this episode came from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs s in the framework of the “Public Diplomacy 2020 – New dimension” grant programme.