"The USA is a partner of Montenegro in the fight against corruption"

The US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Eskobar said that Washington is looking forward to cooperation with the current and future Government of Montenegro in the fight against corruption. Eskobar said this at an online briefing with journalists, answering a question from Portal RTCG.
Eskobar pointed out that the USA strongly supports the fight against deep-rooted corruption in the Western Balkans region. He pointed out that they support strengthening the rule of law, reforms and reaching a high level of responsibility.
"We are partners of Montenegro and support its efforts. We cooperate in the field of strengthening technical capacities, training and exchange of information. We look forward to cooperation with the current and future Government of Montenegro in the fight against corruption," said Eskobar.
He expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in this morning's shooting at a school in the center of Belgrade, in which eight students and a guard were killed.
"No one should have to face such sadness. The USA is ready to provide support in all possible ways", said Eskobar.
Speaking about the new round of negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, which began on Tuesday in Belgrade, Eskobar said that a legally binding agreement had been reached between the two countries.
"On Tuesday, the implementation of that agreement was discussed. Implementation begins with the formation of the Union of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo (ZSO). That was the focus of the conversation," Eskobar said.
He said that significant elements of the agreement were discussed, as well as that it is now up to the main negotiators to continue with a "usable" statute (on the formation of the ZSO in Kosovo).
"We expect that in the next two weeks, the main negotiators will meet again to discuss the process again. This process is very important and it is important that the two sides, especially Kosovo, take it seriously and proceed rapidly towards the goal", said Eskobar.
He welcomed the adoption of the declaration on missing persons.
"We will continue to look for progress in other areas as well", said Eskobar.
Eskobar also said that the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo does not include third countries, although it creates an opportunity for regional stability.
"We are not trying to recreate the model from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The situation in BiH is encouraging in the sense that we had successful elections, which resulted in governments at the state level and now at the level of the federation", added Eskobar.
He said that the elections in BiH brought new leaders into the power structure, which was necessary.
Asked if Serbia violated the agreement when it voted against Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe (CoE), Eskobar replied that he was not sure that this constituted a violation of the agreement.
"It depends on the EU, which is the guarantor of the agreement. The implementation process was not agreed upon at the time of the vote," said Eskobar.
Asked what will happen if an agreement between Serbia and Kosovo is not reached by the end of the year, he said that the question is premature.
"We see that the leaders are meeting, that they are talking about the right issues. We did not expect an agreement to be reached yesterday, but we wanted them to present their views to us. I hope and fully expect that we will reach this goal by the end of the year", said Eskobar.
When asked how the USA views the relations of the countries of the Western Balkans with Russia, he said that all countries, especially candidates for EU membership, have an obligation to comply with the Union's sanctions policy.
"I would say that, globally, the countries of the region see the crisis the way we see it - as a threat to European security and prosperity, and for that reason we have to respond collectively," said Eskobar.
He said that all the countries of the region responded and gave the politically and humanitarian correct answer.
"I think we just have to continue to work on common harmonization, in order to address that threat," said Eskobar.
RTCG