HomeRemarks and Releases – Brussels Media Hub...Online Press Briefing with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar

# 									Online Press Briefing with Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar							

Special Briefing

Gabriel Escobar, Deputy Assistant SecretaryBureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

May 8, 2024

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**MODERATOR:**  Good afternoon from the State Department’s Brussels Media Hub.  I would like to welcome everyone joining us for today’s virtual press briefing.  We are very honored to be joined for the last time by Gabriel Escobar, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs.  This will in fact be his last hub call, so, DAS Escobar, we’re honored to have you.

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Thank you, John, and thank you to everybody who’s joining today.  John is right, this is my last hub call.  I am leaving – I’m departing this job this month.  I have reached the end of my three-year tenure.  I mean, actually this job is a two-year job, but I had requested early on to stay on for an extra year because I truly believed at the time that by the end of this year we would have had more progress on the Ohrid agreement, that we would have had full implementation of both some of the requirements from Serbia and the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, and that we would have been able to move Kosovo closer to European integration through Partnership for Peace and European Union candidacy.

Now, I am still hopeful that that can be done through full implementation of this historic normalization agreement, but unfortunately, I’ve run out of time.  But I will – I know that the department will still continue to make that a priority.

But in the rest of the region, I also want to say that one of the things that we are very happy to have accomplished is that we – that several countries in the Western Balkans are solidly on a path to Euro-Atlantic integration, particularly those NATO members – Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro – who are fully engaged on the whole process of joining the European Union.  I’m confident and I’m hopeful that regardless of the elections in North Macedonia that that path to Europe will continue.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we’ve seen some steps toward greater functionality, and we’ve had an enormous success in the invitation for Bosnia-Herzegovina to become a candidate member for the European Union.  And we’ll continue to work with parties on the ground, political parties, civil society, and others to take advantage of that historic opportunity.

So as I leave this job, I am confident that we put in place some programs, some paths, and some policies that will help the region both in reconciliation among all of them and in Euro-Atlantic integration.

So I will stop there and open it up for questions.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you very much for those opening remarks, DAS Escobar.  Why don’t we go to a couple of submitted questions first?  We’ll start with Llazar Semini from the Associated Press in Albania, who asks:  “How are the Kosovo-Serbia normalization talks going at a time when both the U.S. and the EU are in an election year?  They also say that there are voices or rumors in the – that the Council of Europe may not make Kosovo a member next week.  Your comment, sir?”

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Well, the – I think that the expectations for both sides are very clear.  At Ohrid – and I was present at Ohrid – it was agreed that all elements of that agreement were immediately implementable.  That means, for Kosovo, the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities; and for Serbia, to not block the path for Kosovo in any Euro-Atlantic and international organization.

So unfortunately, both sides have failed to honor that commitment, and – but I do believe that once we get this agreement back on track – and it incorporates a lot of the Brussels agreements – that the region will be in a better place, that the two countries will have a normal, predictable, and peaceful relationship with each other.

Now, on the Council of Europe, as you know, the United States does not have a vote, but I do know that there is concern among certain members that the association and some of the other requests that have been made – and have been made repeatedly over the last two years with regard to the association and some other issues related to the Serb minority – have not been met.  And that is – that is what’s driving some of the concern that Kosovo may not have the votes in the Council of Europe.  Now, it’s the American position that Kosovo should be a full member of the European Union, of NATO, and the United Nations.  We’ll continue to work for that.  But in the meantime, on the European path, I think it’s important for Kosovo to listen to its European partners and work with their European partners as we strengthen Kosovo’s candidacy for all Euro-Atlantic structures.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to a live question now.  We have a couple of hands raised.  First let’s go to Xhezair Dashi.  Xhezair, please go ahead.

**QUESTION:**  Okay, do you hear me?

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Yes.

**QUESTION:**  Today the Kosovo prime minister ruled out the ASM and moving towards it in connection with Kosovo’s path to becoming a member of Council of Europe.  He said that these are two separate processes.  He objected Jim O’Brien’s, Emmanuel Macron, and Olaf Scholz’s request to make any move towards the ASM for a successful vote in mid-May by – to the committee of ministers.  His argument runs basically as if he’s saying that I am with the democratic West, but not with some Western diplomats, whose calls he deems unjust.  What do you make of that, Mr. Escobar?  Does he have any point?  And how interrelated are these two processes (inaudible)?

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Well, look, I think they’re very related.  I mean, one is that the Council of Europe is about the treatment of minorities, and Kosovo has made clear commitments about the treatment of minorities, and that includes the association.  Now, that is a longstanding commitment and it is written into the Ahtisaari Plan; it is written into the Brussels Agreement; and Ohrid.  And so we are – we struggle to figure out why Kosovo doesn’t meet its legal obligation, and hasn’t, and hasn’t signaled in many ways that it is committed to doing it.  And the concern is that post-accession will only bring greater delay, and that is – that is the belief among some.

Now, with regard to the disagreement with certain Western diplomats, all of the diplomats that he has met with represent fully the policy of the national government.  So Kurti is going to hear the same message from all levels of American, Italian, French, German governments.  So it’s not really – we are only the messengers of a national policy.  So I would encourage Kosovo to work closely with its European and American partners to find a way to move forward on an existing legal obligation that will have to be done anyway.  So the sooner we do it together, the more effective we can be in making a case for Kosovo’s continued integration and additional recognitions for Kosovo.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to another submitted question, this time from Davor Obrdalj from Oslobođenje in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  He asks a bit more of a hypothetical:  “If you could travel to the past, what would you do differently in Bosnia and Herzegovina?”

**MR ESCOBAR:**  (Laughter.)  That’s a very good question.  Well, it depends on how far in the past we could go.  If we could go far enough back to 1991, we should have done more to stop a bloody civil war.  We should have done more throughout the war to support innocent victims.  We should have done more to prevent some of the atrocities that happened.  But once that happened, Dayton was the best opportunity we had to stop the bloodiest war in Europe since the Second World War.

So it’s hard to say what – what was possible and what would be possible.  The one thing that is important is that we not look to the past, but look to the future.  So Bosnia and Herzegovina, I am consistently encouraged by the quality of the new generation of leaders who are willing to take advantage of the historic opportunity to move Bosnia-Herzegovina into Europe as a full and respected member of the Euro-Atlantic community.  And I think that should be the point, that looking forward, once we get a new generation of leaders, Bosnia and Herzegovina will thrive.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you.  We’ll go to another live question now – Ksenija Pavlović.  Ksenija, please go ahead.

**QUESTION:**  Hi, can you hear me okay?

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Of course.  Hi, Ksenija.

**QUESTION:**  Hi.  Before I proceed to my questions, I would like to wish you good luck on your next assignment.  And I hope that whoever assumes this role next will bring the same level of expertise in the region as well as the deep appreciation and commitment to a free and independent press.

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Thank you.

**QUESTION:**  So here are my two questions for you for today.  First question:  Lajčák is in Washington.

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Yes.

**QUESTION:**  What can you share from your discussions with O’Brien in terms of expectations for the meetings?  Specifically, what message will Lajčák carry to Belgrade and Pristina after these discussions in D.C.?

And my second question, like, a little bit broader questions:  If you were to reflect on the past three years, what were the biggest challenges?  What worked, and what did not?  And what are your hopes for the future?  Thank you.

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Yeah.  Well, those are two very good questions.  Well, first of all, let me tell you that we – Mr. Lajčák has been here for the last two days.  The one thing that he is going to take away from his meetings in Washington is that the United States continues to strongly and fully support the EU-facilitated dialogue.  We will be his partner.  We will continue to support the path that he is – that he has expertly navigated for the two countries.  And so the – that is the first important message that he will take back.  The second is we’re going to talk about strategies on how to move the implementation of Ohrid forward so that the region does benefit from this historic agreement.  So also in that is we’re going to have a discussion about the Kosovo dinar decision, and how we continue to move toward getting a transparent, electronic, private sector process to allow people who are entitled to benefits from Serbia to receive them in Kosovo.  So those would be the two – the two main topics of discussion.

Additionally – well, and you’re asking me what – where I would have hoped that we would have made more progress.  I do think that in the – on the question of Serbia-Kosovo that the normalization agreement should not have been that hard to implement.  On one hand, what was on the table for Kosovo was additional recognitions, Partnership for Peace, EU candidacy, a strategic bilateral dialogue with the United States, and a donors conference.  What was on the table for Serbia was additionally a donors conference, quicker resolution to the Chapter 35 question which would allow Serbia to close that chapter, and additional investment for both countries.  And in return, the two countries had to recognize that they would have to work together to make the life of people who are essentially dual citizens in Kosovo much better.

Now, that one I thought would have been easier, but additionally I also wish that we had – we would have made more progress in the European process for the three NATO members.  I still am very hopeful that all three will move very quickly once some of their internal questions are resolved.  With Montenegro, I really do believe that they are – they will be the next – they will be the next member of the European Union.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to another live question, this time Andrew Rettman from the EU Observer.  Andrew, please go ahead.

**QUESTION:**  Thank you for the opportunity.  Hi there.  I wanted to ask about President Xi’s visit to Serbia, also of course Hungary tomorrow, and then we expect he could be meeting President Vladimir Putin, so Orbán-Vučić-Putin.  Do you think his agenda in the Western Balkans is benign, or could we fear that he is trying to build some kind of new axis of friends in the region that will actually stand against greater European integration?

**MR ESCOBAR**:  Well, Andrew, I think – I think your analysis is pretty accurate.  I do think that the countries that he has chosen are those that are open to challenging the unity of the Euro-Atlantic community.  And so we caution all of our partners and all of our interlocutors to be very aware of China’s agenda in Europe and China’s agenda with regard to the Euro-Atlantic community.  But it’s a very good question.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you, sir.  We’ll go to another submitted question, this time from Jovana Djurisic from Pobjeda in Montenegro, who asks:  “The Government of Montenegro has not yet declared whether they will support the resolution on Srebrenica in the UN, but they have stated that in partnership with the United States, they will seek changes to the resolution.  Are you familiar with that, and how do you see it?  Is there a great division in the Montenegrin Government on this issue?”

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Well, look, there really shouldn’t be any division in Europe about this.  The genocide of Srebrenica was a fact.  Now, the resolution does not name any country, any ethnicity, doesn’t even mention Republika Srpska.  And so it simply reminds people that this is a historical fact.  And at a time when you’re seeing a rise in genocide denial in the region and the glorification of war criminals, the co-sponsors believe that it was an important time to reinforce the commemoration of this historic event and provide some resources for education.

So it really should not be a challenge because it doesn’t single out any country, any ethnicity, or anyone other than criminals who committed that act.  So with regard to the amendment, Montenegro is a full and respected member of the United Nations, and I know that they have – we have seen informally the amendments that they have proposed.  But they are working directly with the co-drafters of the resolution, and that is the correct way.  Montenegro does not need a mediator.  Montenegro is a respected member of the UN, and its voice can be heard by its partners.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you.  We’ll go again to a live question, this time Ekrem Krasniqi.  Ekrem, please go ahead.

**QUESTION:**  Hello, can you hear me?

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Sure.  Hi, Ekrem.

**QUESTION:**  Hello, Mr. Escobar.  Thanks for this again.  I’ll go back to the question from a colleague from Bosnia, but in looking forward to the future, into – or respective of the situation in Bosnia since 1995 when Dayton Agreement was signed, and today’s internal political instability and permanent threats of breakup of the country.  What is one thing that U.S. Government and EU governments can guarantee to Kosovo that Kosovo’s – Kosovo will not be burdened in the future as is Bosnia today?

**MR ESCOBAR:**  Mm-hmm.  Well, look, I’ll tell you one thing about Kosovo.  It has always been my belief that Kosovo could advance very quickly in the European path.  Kosovo has almost unanimous support for European integration and NATO membership.  Its institutions are young.  They are modern.  They are open to reform.  And the constitution of Montenegro guarantees full rights for every member, every citizen of the country, regardless of ethnicity.

Now, the challenge is that it is not always implemented.  But I do believe that there are some leaders in the country who do have the vision of a multi-ethnic, democratic civic society fully integrated with the – in the European Union.  That was not the case in Bosnia in 1995, and in fact, European enlargement was still a very new idea.  And so in many ways, the promises that can be made to Kosovo were not available to Bosnia at the time.  But I do think that by following the European path and by coordinating with European partners, Kosovo can advance tremendously in its path to Europe.

**MODERATOR:**  Thanks.  We’ll go to another live question, this time Lisa O’Carroll from The Guardian.  Lisa, please go ahead.

**QUESTION:**  Yeah, I submitted a written question as well, but I’ll rephrase it.  I’m just – wanted to follow up on that very good question on China and re-pitch it as the same sort of question on Russia.  How worried are you or have you been in the three years you’ve been there, Mr. Escobar, about Serbia’s links to Russia?  And how worried have you been that any challenge to President Vučić risks beating Russia and possibly drawing Russia into a part of Europe where we definitely don’t want a second battlefield?  Thank you.

**MR ESCOBAR:**Yeah, understood.  Yeah, I – and thank you for that question, Lisa.  And look, my contention has always been that it would be a mistake to look at Russia as the cause of the problems in the Balkans.  Russia takes advantage of the problems in the Balkans, but the problems are those that have existed for the last 25 years.  And by resolving the problems, I think we close off the opportunities for Russia to make mischief in the region, but they will try.  That’s definitely the case.

And with regard to Serbia, I think we have a very – we have been very clear with Serbia, and to say that we have been unbalanced in the relationship between Kosovo and Serbia would be a mistake.  In fact, over the last year almost everything that we’ve done has benefited Kosovo and not Serbia, including sanctions against the intelligence chief, including public and private calling for accountability of those who were involved in the Banjska attack, including supporting the democratic processes in Kosovo in spite of a Serb boycott.  So in that regard, we have been very clear with both sides about what our expectations are and will continue to be.

Now, with regard to Serbia, we have been very clear that Serbia is welcome in the – in the transatlantic family, but there are clear conditions for that.  And we’ll continue to be very public and encourage privately as well that reconciliation, rule of law, and good peaceful relations with all neighbors is an important part of it.

**MODERATOR:**  Thank you, sir.  To another live question now, Peter Žerjavič from DELO.  Peter, please, go ahead.  Peter, can you hear us?

**QUESTION:**  You hear me – you hear me?

**MODERATOR:**  Yeah.

**MR ESCOBAR:**Yes, Peter.

**MODERATOR:**  Yeah, go ahead, please.

**QUESTION:**  Yeah.  Sorry – sorry.  Peter from Brussels.

**MODERATOR:**  No problem.

**QUESTION:**  Mr. Escobar, I would like to ask you about the future role of the EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.  Do you think the change of his mandate is needed?  And in this context, I would like to ask you:  How do you assess the candidacy of the former Slovenian President Borut Pahor for that position?  Thank you.

**MR ESCOBAR:**Thank you very much for that question.  Well, look, the important thing is that the dialogue must continue.  The dialogue is a very important focus tool in bringing some – in bringing resolution to one of the most difficult challenges in the Western Balkans.  And I think Mr. Lajčák has done a tremendous job.  He’s had a tremendous level of strategic vision, but he’s also been very active in the details.  And without the dialogue, we would have neither a European focus on a single point of contact for this issue, but we also wouldn’t have a crisis management mechanism, which I think the dialogue unfortunately had to do a lot of that.

With regard to the candidates, I don’t know how the candidacy will go, but all I can say is we expect – regardless of who the next special representative will be – that we expect that that person will get full American support for their work.  With regard to individual candidates, I think it’s too early to talk about them, because we have not been officially informed who is a candidate.

**MODERATOR:**I think we have time for one more question.  Why don’t we go to Helena Djordjevic.  Helena, please go ahead.

**QUESTION:**  Hello.

**MR ESCOBAR:**Hi.

**QUESTION:**  (Inaudible) ask you about your future.  I know you cannot reveal your next appointment, but can you please tell us if it’s going to be related to the Balkan region?  And secondly, I wanted to go back to the visit of Chinese president to Serbia.  They signed a statement on a joint future, and also the timing of the visit that coincides with the anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.  If you can comment on that in a little more detail.  Thank you.

**MR ESCOBAR:**Yes.  I apologize, but we had trouble hearing you, but I will answer the second question.  I do think that the – that the visit was timed to increase tensions between Serbia and the rest of the Western community, and it’s unhelpful.  We – the United States has said that that, the bombing of the Chinese embassy in 1999, was an accident.  We’ve apologized.  I believe we’ve actually even paid reparations to the families.  But – and I do believe that the timing of the visit was unfortunate but deliberate.

On the question of my transition, the department doesn’t have – has already said that they have no personnel announcements to make at this point, but at a certain point my next assignment and the replacement for my job here will be announced.  But I do hope that you will have the same level of contact and communication with my successor as you’ve had with me.  I’ve really appreciated all of the interactions that I’ve had with the international press on the Balkans.

**MODERATOR:**Thank you so much for that, DAS Escobar.  Thanks so for joining us one last time.

**MR ESCOBAR:**John, I do have one more thing, and I —

**MODERATOR:**Please.

**MR ESCOBAR:**— before I leave.  I do want to address one thing that we’ve gotten a lot of questions about, and that is about the unfounded disinformation that is produced by a – that has been produced over the weekend by an alleged journalist who said that I’m being fired for shady links to the Serbian Government.

So I do want to say directly that everything in that report is a lie, and verifiably a lie.  First of all, I’m not being fired, and everyone at the State Department has verified that.  Second, my wife doesn’t receive any money from any foreign government.  My wife in every embassy that we have served in – Bolivia, Portugal, Italy, and even Serbia – has been a proud proponent of people-to-people contacts, but she does that without any kind of payment and without any kind of contract.  She will continue to do that.  Third, I have no links to a purported lawyer in a Texas law firm.  And it’s – and that law firm does have public-facing websites, and at some point a responsible journalist may reach out to them and confirm that there are no links.

And then, fourth of all, the claim that the information came from congressional sources is false because Congress has not been notified of any personnel changes.  In fact, the report came out after I had through diplomatic channels reached out to all the governments in the region to start talking about the transition.  And this one – this report came out shortly after I communicated to the Government of Kosovo.

So it is this kind of disinformation that is unfortunate that is being propagated in the Western Balkans, and also – I might add – one of the reasons why the media context in Kosovo has been so criticized by independent journalists and independent organizations.

But I do – I am thankful for the – and grateful for the support that the – that the State Department has given me and the support that leaders and journalists have given me over this past couple of weeks over these lies that are intended to cast doubt on the commitment I have to the work in the Balkans.

And with that, John, I’ll turn it over to you.

**MODERATOR:**Thank you, DAS Escobar.  Thank you very much for that clarification.  I think that was really important.  We appreciate, again, the fact that you joined us today, and thank you to all the journalists that joined us today as well.  Shortly, we’ll send out an audio recording of the briefing to all the participating journalists and provide a transcript as soon as it is available.  We always love to hear your feedback.  Please feel free to e-mail us at TheBrusselsHub@state.gov.  Thanks again, everybody, for your participation and we hope you can join us again for another press briefing in the future.  This ends today’s briefing.

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