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Hovenier-Vucic after the threats: The most successful military alliance is in Kosovo

2024-03-20 14:28:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hovenier-Vucic after the threats: The most successful military alliance is in

The American ambassador in Kosovo, Jeff Hovenier, said that the citizens of Kosovo should not worry about threats and possible attacks, since the NATO mission in Kosovo is "ready to do the right thing".

During a statement to journalists, Hovenier was asked about reports that the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vu?i?, "has threatened with a possible invasion of Kosovo".

Hovenier said that the security guarantees that the United States has given to Kosovo continue to be strong, while he said that Kosovo benefits in terms of security from the presence of the KFOR mission, which "is a completely deterrent force against any kind of attack that the citizens may to be worried".

"I can say that our commitment to Kosovo's security, the security guarantees that the USA has offered, remain as strong as ever. We sleep comfortably on this threat. We think that NATO is prepared and ready, and I think that the people of Kosovo should sleep comfortably because the most successful military alliance in history has a large presence here, which is ready to do the right thing," said Hovenier.

The American ambassador was also asked about Kosovo's aspirations in NATO. He said that Washington supports Kosovo's path towards NATO and said that he expects that Prishtina will one day be a member of the alliance.

He also spoke about the statements of the American ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, who stated that Serbia is closer to NATO than Kosovo.

"I want to refute those who want to make comparisons about who stands where [in relation to NATO]", said Hovenier, recalling that four NATO countries still do not recognize Kosovo and this challenge, according to him, should is exceeded to reach membership.

"Kosovo aligns very well with NATO in terms of values ??and institutions. So it's more about solving these other challenges and moving forward. We expect that one day Kosovo will be a full member of NATO", said Hovenier.

Even the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, rejected such comparisons earlier in the day, saying that only Vladimir Putin's Russia "is further from NATO than Serbia".

Hovenier's statement to journalists was made after a meeting he held with the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi. The American diplomat said that this meeting was routine, since the day before Kosovo and Serbia held a new round of talks.

As for the dinar, which according to the European Union, the parties have agreed that next week they will present their opinions on how to overcome their differences, Hovenier said that no proposal was presented to him.

"He did not present me with any specific proposal. I think the Government is still working in this direction. I wanted to express our opinions, as we have done repeatedly as long as we want to be constructive in this process, but we think it is a very important issue that needs to be addressed," said Hovenier.

He reiterated the American position that the way of implementing the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which foresees the euro as the only currency for payments, should be changed. This regulation entered into force on February 1.

The US and the EU have opposed the regulation as they say it does not take into account the negative impacts it has on the Serbian population in Kosovo.

The Serbian state allocates millions of euros to Serbs in Kosovo after paying them in dinars - through a parallel system - salaries, pensions and additional aid./REL