TIRANA, July 7 – Former US President national security advisor John Bolton confirmed claims that a land swap deal between Kosovo and Serbia has been discussed by high officials in the past.
“There have been signs since 2018 that the leaders wanted to resolve these issues because they understood that there could be no economic development and no stability without normalizing relations between them. It was a controversy in those countries but to me, it seemed worth an effort. One of the things they discussed was a possibility of the territory swap,” Bolton said during an interview with the Foreign Press Association on Friday.
According to Bolton, in some Balkan countries, in Germany and in some Western European countries, the idea of exchanging territories was not well-received, but he added that “if Kosovo and Serbia reach an agreement on this issue, the rest of Europe would hardly oppose it. “
A year and a half ago, he said, the parties were closer to the possibility of an agreement and that “some serious Europeans like Tony Blair were engaged in this process.”
Discussions on the issue of the exchange of territories began in the summer of 2018. On August 24 of that year, Bolton said that “the United States will not be involved in the idea of exchanging territories between Kosovo and Serbia, but if the parties agree, they will not be an obstacle. “
The idea provoked strong reactions in Kosovo and Serbia, as well as the some European Union countries, among which Germany was the most vocal.
President Thaçi has repeatedly stated that his idea of territorial correction is not about “exchange of territories.”
Representatives of the two countries were invited to take part of a meeting on June 27 at the White House with the mediation of Ambassador Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia peace talks.
Ambassador Grenell denied being part of the discussions on territorial exchange and stressed that the Washington meeting would focus on economic issues.
The meeting was canceled three days prior to the meeting after the Special Prosecution Office in the Hague publicly announced a ten-count indictment against President Thaçi and Democratic Party Chairman Kadri Veseli, on the charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Ambassador Grenell later said that a new date for the meeting would be set soon.
On Monday, European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said that Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic will hold a meeting brokered by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and the EU special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.
The meeting on Sunday will be preceded by a virtual meeting on Friday under the auspices of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which was scheduled to be a high-level meeting in Paris.
