After the meeting with Kurti, the head of the CIA concludes his visit to Kosovo

2024-08-23 11:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, concluded his two-day visit to Kosovo, after the meetings he held in Pristina with the heads of state and the leader of the Kosovar intelligence.

On the morning of August 23, for about an hour he met with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, in the building of the Government of Kosovo.

After this meeting, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar, the US military plane Burns is traveling with has left Pristina's Adem Jashari International Airport.

During this week, Prime Minister Kurti was in the United States of America, where, at the invitation of the National Democratic Institute, he accompanied the National Assembly of the Democratic Party.

He has not yet spoken about the meeting with the top US intelligence official. A day earlier, Burns met in Pristina with the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and with the head of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency (KIA), Petrit Ajeti.

President Osmani, on August 23, confirmed the meeting with the head of the CIA, William Burns.

"The alliance with the United States, a guarantee of security, peace and success," she wrote on Facebook. The visit of the head of the CIA to Kosovo follows the visits that the main American intelligence official made to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

In Sarajevo on August 20, Burns met with the director of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Intelligence and Security Agency, Almir Xhuvo, and members of the Bosnian Presidency, Denis Beqirovi?, Zhelko Komši? and Zelka Cvijanovi?, the US-sanctioned Serbian member. . The US Government told Radio Free Europe that during the meetings in Sarajevo "they discussed issues of common interest, which include the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina".

During the visit, according to the American official, Burns also discussed the secessionist rhetoric and the actions of Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian president of the Serbian entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska.

A day later, Dodik declared that "I have never opposed" the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in accordance with the Dayton Agreement, while secession "has never been our policy".

As for the visit to Belgrade, it is not known who Burns met with. Burns' visit to Kosovo comes at a time when the American ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, has said that his country has been challenged in several aspects by the Government of Kosovo, led by Albin Kurti.

The USA and other countries of the European Union have criticized some decisions and actions taken recently by the Kurti Government, which have been considered "unilateral" and "uncoordinated".

Meanwhile, the US Department of State has asked the Kurti Government to return to "constructive and close engagement" with Washington, the European Union and NATO, while Washington is also demanding that Kosovo's institutions not open the bridge over the Ibër river, citing security concerns.

Otherwise, at noon on August 22 at the "Adem Jashari" International Airport of Pristina, the journalists of Radio Evropa e Lire saw an American army plane stopped in the "VIP" area of ??the airport.

With this plane, it is believed that Burns also traveled to other countries in the region. Meanwhile, according to the flight tracking website, Flightradar, this plane flew on August 22 from Belgrade to Bulgaria, North Macedonia and finally Kosovo.

Burns is the former US ambassador to Russia. He is a central figure in the administration of the American president, Joe Biden, as he is also a member of the presidential cabinet of the White House.

He was appointed by President Biden to the post of CIA director in January 2021./ Rel