Donald Trump Junior Urges US Troop Withdrawal from Kosovo – Balkan Insight

Donald Trump Jr. Photo: EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

Donald Trump Jr wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he agrees with a suggestion by Republican senator David Perdue that the US should reconsider its presence in Kosovo if Pristina does not agree to fully revoke its 100 per cent tariffs on imports from Serbia.

There are 650 US troops in Kosovo. Time to get them home, said Trump Jr, who holds no official position in the US administration but is executive vice-president of his fathers Trump Organisation.

Senator Perdues comments stepped up the pressure on the Pristina authorities over the tariffs.

For over two decades, US forces have helped keep the peace between Kosovo & Serbia. Now, with historic progress in sight, Kosovo must do its part & abolish all duties imposed on Serbia. If Kosovo is not fully committed to peace, then the US should reconsider its presence there, Perdue wrote on Twitter.

Significantly for Kosovo politicians, Perdues message was retweeted by Trumps envoy for Kosovo-Serbia peace negotiations, Richard Grenell.

Grenell warned last week after Kosovos Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the tariffs on imports of Serbian products would only be gradually removed that the US would not waste our assistance if Kosovos leadership kept harming its people this way.

Kurtis proposal has not yet been agreed with his Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) partys junior governing partners, the Democratic League of Kosovo. The proposal has been dismissed by Serbia as a fraudulent and dishonest.

Suggestions that the US military could possibly pull out of Kosovo have sparked alarm among some politicians in the country.

President Hashim Thaci on Tuesday urged Kurtis government to call an emergency session to lift the tariffs. Thaci wrote on Facebook that the future of our country is in question.

The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, sent his envoy Skender Hyseni to talk to Grenell about the issue.

After the talks, Hyseni said that he was told that Kosovo must find a solution or risk further tension with the US.

The White House and ambassador Grenell strongly urge the immediate and unconditional lifting of tariffs on goods from Serbia to pave the way for a Kosovo-Serbia dialogue that should and will be concluded with mutual recognition, Hyseni wrote on Facebook.

He said that he was told by Grenell that America cannot continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on military and other aid and projects in a place where the government works against the interests of its citizens.

US troops have been in Kosovo as part of NATOs KFOR peacekeeping mission since the war ended 1999.

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Donald Trump Junior Urges US Troop Withdrawal from Kosovo - Balkan Insight