The authorities in Kosovo have lifted the ban on the entry of trucks and goods from Serbia that was introduced three days ago, reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, referring to RTS. The Kosovo border service checks trucks and cars from Serbia more closely, but they are allowed to pass, the report states.
The German public service ARD highlights that Serbia, despite the appeals of the European Union and the USA, initiated proceedings against the three detained Kosovo police officers and that they are being charged with illegal possession of weapons. At the same time, it is recalled that the USA, the EU and many Western countries appealed to both sides to take steps for de-escalation.
The statement of the special American envoy, Gabriel Escobar, was also reported, who said that the police officers "were either kidnapped or ended up in Serbia unintentionally" and that "they should be released without any preconditions".
Cajt newspaper states that KFOR announced on Friday evening that, after investigating the incident, "it failed to determine whether the arrest of the three policemen was on the territory of Kosovo or Serbia". That international military mission reminded both sides that "they have to coordinate with KFOR the actions of their security forces in the border area – and that did not happen in this case," reports the German newspaper.
A complete reversal of American politics?
The Vienna Standard writes about the growing pressure from the US and the EU on Pristina: "The Kosovo government does not want to yield to the pressure of Western embassies, because it wants to show that the north of Kosovo is part of Kosovo's territory. American representatives in the Balkans in particular, such as Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill, have already been behind Vučić for months and have criticized Kosovo's Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti. The US is thus abandoning one of its most important democratic allies in the region, probably the most pro-American country in the world, Kosovo, and supporting the pro-Russian Vučić's regime, which rules autocratically."
The Austrian newspaper indicates that "people across the Balkans have been confused for months because the US has completely changed its policy towards the region. Apparently, issues of democracy and the rule of law are no longer important to Washington. Officially, the US wants to try to free Serbia from Russian hugs and that's why they support Vučić and his regime. But, apparently, that doesn't work at all. (...) The Western appeasement policy towards Serbia and, at the same time, increasing pressure on the Kosovo government - the EU even wants to introduce measures against Kurti's cabinet - have so far not led to bringing Serbia closer to the West. And there are those who believe that it is a complete reversal of American policy regarding something else: namely – regarding the division of Kosovo," writes the Standard.
"Damaged image of the EU"
"The image of the European Union as a neutral mediator has been damaged", says Prof. Florian Biber from the University of Graz. "The European Union and the USA believe that the responsibility for the escalation lies almost exclusively with Pristina". According to Biber, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Aljbin Kurti, clearly made strategic mistakes and is much less ready to compromise than his predecessors, but the attitude (of the USA and the EU) towards Belgrade is too uncritical considering the provocations. This is because, according to the Austrian professor, they hope to get that country out of the Russian sphere of influence.
"The West is putting pressure on Kosovo, because it thinks it can afford it. It doesn't work in Serbia and it forms a fatal image of one-sidedness," Biber concludes.
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