"Trump will react fiercely unless Belgrade and Pristina reach agreement by February"

Western Balkans expert Dean Pineles says Washington could in the fall organize a meeting at the White House with Pristina and Belgrade officials.

In an op-ed written for the European Western Balkans, cited by Pristina daily Koha Ditore, Pinelessaid that US President Donald Trump should convene a meeting similar to that organized by former US President Jimmy Carter in 1978, when a historic agreement was reached between Egypt and Israel.

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"If Egypt and Israel could come to an enduring agreement following their armed hostilities and long-standing enmity, then there’s reason to hope that Serbia and Kosovo could do likewise," Pineles wrote.

"As a precondition, once the summit was called, Kosovo's new government would have to agree to suspend the import tariff and Serbia would have to agree to suspend the derecognition strategy," said Pineles, who thinks Trump will react fiercely unless Serbia and Kosovo reach an agreement by February.

"So this is Trump's need for a clear situation in the Balkans as he faces the 2020 election. Trump doesn't care what Thaci and Vucic will sign," Pineles believes.

The success of the high level summit, he said, would represent a major foreign policy breakthrough and legacy for the Trump administration and could bring lasting peace to the Balkans, which most nations would welcome.

(Telegraf.rs/Tanjug)