Serbia says it is ready for military cooperation with the United States, but intends to remain neutral – RT in French

On June 6, Western diplomats arrived in Belgrade to meet with Aleksandar Vucic following the unrest in northern Kosovo. At the end of the meeting, the Serbian President said he was ready to consider cooperating with the Americans.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic assured that his country, while remaining neutral, was ready to develop a partnership with the US military with the aim of maintaining peace and stability in the region, the news agency reported. Tanjug.

On 6th June the Serbian Head of State welcomed a delegation of American and European diplomats to Belgrade in order to try to find a solution of appeasement following the troubles which recently agitated northern Kosovo.

A declaration which also comes after Vucic complained in May of Western pressure to align the Serbian position with that of the Western bloc in the face of the Ukrainian conflict, in particular with regard to the sanctions imposed by Washington and Brussels.

This meeting comes a few days after the violent clashes which opposed in Zvecan, in the north of Kosovo, Serbs to peacekeepers from KFOR, the multinational force led by NATO. Serbs in northern Kosovo were protesting the installation of Albanian mayors by the self-proclaimed authorities in Pristina, despite a boycotted election that saw only 3% turnout.

Tensions in Kosovo: Pristina blames Belgrade

Belgrade and Pristina have been told to defuse tensions by Western capitals, usually backing the latter. The self-proclaimed authorities of Pristina have said they are “open” to the holding of new elections in the localities concerned, while castigating the attitude of the Serbian president, whom they accuse of having played a role in the recent outbreak of violence.

At the beginning of February, before a meeting with the EU special representative for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina Miroslav Lajcak, the Serbian President had declared on social networks that the West could “only dream” of Belgrade recognizing the independence of Kosovo. A few days earlier, before the Serbian Parliament, Aleksandar Vucic had repeated – on several occasions – that he would “not recognize[t] never the independence of Kosovo”.

However, Western pressure remains constant to align the Serbian position with that of the Western bloc in the face of the Ukrainian conflict.

Brussels has been mediating for years between Belgrade, an EU candidate, and Pristina, in an attempt to normalize their relations with a view to integrating them into the European bloc. Normalization to which Washington is also pushing. Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Recognized by the United States and most Western countries, this secession is not recognized by Belgrade or by Russia, China, India or even five countries of the European Union.