Ahead of a new round of talks within the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue scheduled for September 14, the US has asked Serbia and Kosovo to demonstrate commitment to the obligations stemming from the agreement on normalization between the two sides and its implementation annex, said US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar.

The American diplomat said that, in a recent phone conversation, he did not get assurances from Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that he was committed to implementing the agreement on normalization and its annex, as Kurti clamed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, reported Voice of America.

Regarding the Kosovo side, this means presenting a Draft Statute of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities and Kurti has not committed to doing this, Escobar said in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA) Serbian and Albanian services, adding that the only thing he committed to was attending the meetings in Brussels.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) announced that Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will meet on September 14 in Brussels with the mediators in the Dialogue, European Union (EU) High Representative Josep Borrell and EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak, and that the talks will focus on the implementation of the Agreement on the Path to Normalization, as well as current issues.

Escobar noted that the potential consequences of Kosovo and Serbia’s failure to seize the opportunity for normalization of relations are already visible.

These are measures imposed by the EU that prevent progress in some of the mechanisms of the accession process – which are quite serious and although Kosovo calls them sanctions, they are not actual punitive measures, explained Escobar, adding that similar would apply to Serbia.

He said that, in the case of Kosovo, this includes new recognitions of independence, donor conferences, strategic bilateral dialogue with the US and close relations with NATO.

Unfortunately, if there is no progress none of this will happen this year, stressed the American diplomat.

As for Serbia, when discussing how much it has progressed in the accession process, the EU will want to see clear signs of interest in implementing the agreement on normalization, Escobar said.

The US continues to strongly support the EU-facilitated Dialogue, stressed Escobar, adding that it sees it as a way to achieve peaceful and productive relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

Having in mind the fact that an important agreement on normalization was reached in February and March, we want to ask the two parties to take seriously the obligations stemming from this agreement so they could progress in fulfilling the existing and earlier obligations, said Escobar, adding that the US wants progress within the Dialogue to be made this year and that he expects some kind of progress to be made on September 14.