Trump’s Kosovo peace summit postponed amid war crime allegations

A planned summit to resolve conflicts between Balkan states will be rescheduled following an indictment against Kosovo’s president for war crimes, President Trump’s envoy for negotiations said Thursday.

Richard Grenell, the special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, said an expected meeting Saturday to facilitate dialogue between leaders of the two countries will be rescheduled because of Kosovo’s absence. 

The announcement came following Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti saying he would have to return to his country to “deal with the situation” following the indictment of President Hashim Thaçi in an international court on war crimes and crimes against humanity.  

“Thank you, Prime Minister Hoti. We understand your decision and we look forward to re-scheduling the meeting soon,” Grenell said.

Thank you, Prime Minister Hoti. We understand your decision and we look forward to re-scheduling the meeting soon. https://t.co/BNOygifIyY

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 25, 2020

The expected summit was aimed at discussions to resolve long-standing disputes between Serbia and Kosovo, where the two sides have battled over independence, international recognition and territorial claims which are stained by decades of violent conflict.

Grenell said on Twitter the U.S. approach is to focus on jobs and the economy as part of their discussions. 

But that effort was thrown into question Wednesday when the indictment against Thaçi was made public by a special prosecutor’s court in the Hague, leading the Kosovo president to cancel his trip to the U.S. 

Thaçi was indicted on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, believed to be involved in over 100 murders of Kosovo-Albanians, Serbs, Roma, political opponents and other ethnic minorities.