Trump lauds economic pact between Serbia and Kosovo

They reaffirmed pledges to establish highway and railway links but left movement on political normalisation on hold

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic listens as US President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony with Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti at the White House in Washington, September 4, 2020. ReutersShow less

An agreement between Serbia and Kosovo to work on economic ties, hailed by US President Donald Trump on Friday as a "major breakthrough," reaffirmed pledges to establish highway and railway links but left movement on political normalisation on hold.

Both countries - part of the former Yugoslavia - agreed, for a year, to freeze campaigns advocating for and against normalising political ties, said US officials, who nevertheless lauded a handful of economic measures as significant progress in the relationship between the two sides.

Speaking in the Oval Office flanked by the two countries' leaders, Trump said Serbia had also committed to moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and Kosovo and Israel had agreed to normalize ties and establish diplomatic relations.

Serbian President Aleksander Vucic told reporters there were still many differences between Serbia and its former province, which declared independence in 2008, but said Friday's agreement marked a huge step forward.

He later told Serbian media that Serbia's agreement was with the United States, not Kosovo.

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti also welcomed the measures, and said they should lead to mutual recognition between the two countries, the key issue dividing them.

"Serbia and Kosovo have each committed to economic normalisation," Mr Trump said. "By focusing on job creation and economic growth, the two countries were able to reach a major breakthrough."

Political analysts called the agreement underwhelming and hazy, however.

"In my mind this is more of a resumption of dialogue between the two sides. Thats good for the region. But its not like some massive, massive breakthrough," said Jasmin Mujanovic, a political scientist who specialises in Eastern Europe.

Its mostly vague. Its not even clear on the economic stuff," said Edward Joseph, a senior fellow with Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Study.

The Republican Trump, who is running for re-election in November, is seeking to play up his deal-making skills on the international stage and recently announced a pact to normalise ties between Israel and the UAE.

Mr Trump is trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden, who served as vice president under then-President Barack Obama, in national opinion polls.

Friday's events, which came after two days of talks among the leaders and senior Trump aides, was originally scheduled to take place in the White House's Roosevelt Room, with two tables set up for the leaders to sit at. It was abruptly moved to the Oval Office, with Trump's desk between the two tables.

The Serbian and Kosovo leaders appeared to sign separate documents, not one. Mr Trump, meanwhile, signed letters acknowledging that the two countries would work together.

Ambassador Richard Grenell, who is serving as a special envoy on the issue but is not a US government employee, said the United States was not a signatory.

Serbia would be the first European country to open an embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, and Kosovo the first with a Muslim majority. Only two countries have done that so far: the United States and Guatemala.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the moves.

Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo, which is predominantly Muslim, declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 after a 1999 Nato-led bombing campaign in which the United States took part, to curb a war ignited by years of repressive Serbian rule and to stop ethnic cleansing by Belgrade.

Serbia, backed by its traditional Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally Russia, has refused to recognise Kosovo's independence, a precondition for Belgrade's membership in the European Union.

Palestinians reacted with cynicism about the Kosovo and Serbia announcements, suggesting they were more to bolster Mr Trump's reelection prospects in two months while victimising them.

"Palestine has become a victim of the electoral ambitions of President Trump, whose team would take any action, no matter how destructive for peace... to achieve his re-election" in November, tweeted Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

"What else will Trump procure for Israel before November?" said senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi.

But in Washington Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, a key player in Middle East negotiations, said the moves advance peace and make Americans safer.

"Today's breakthrough really is historic," Mr Kushner said at the White House.

"This is just another chapter that this administration has been able to write towards making the world a safer and more peaceful place," he said.