VIDEO | Andonovic: Bulldozer diplomacy returns - Biden sends diplomatic "Dream Team" to Balkans

Joe Biden / Photo: EPA-EFE / Oliver Contreras / POOL

The Biden administration, following the example of Democrats under President Bill Clinton, is activating the so-called "Bulldozer diplomacy" in the Balkans.

In the time of Bill Clinton, in the late XNUMXs, Richard Holbrooke was sent to the Balkans, a diplomat tasked with stabilizing the region after the break-up of the SFRY and the then former republics that became new states. Especially since at that time the then President of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, was already gaining momentum in creating a new political and geographical map of the region and the Balkans.

After none of the foreign diplomats could deal with Milosevic, Richard Holbrooke was sent, a diplomat who with his potential and way of functioning received the epithet "bulldozer". The epithet was based on his role in "pushing" the dormant processes, but also to overthrow the hard, cemented positions of the then Balkan leaders.

Holbrooke went so far as to bomb SFRY, Kosovo became independent of Serbia, and Milosevic had to step down, step down and later resign, and end up on trial in The Hague, where he died.

23 years later, Milosevic and Holbrooke are gone, but the frozen conflict and the unresolved Kosovo issue still remain, as well as the consequences of the agreement in the XNUMXs over Dayton Bosnia.

All these problems in the past years seem to have been put under the rug.

Biden's new administration, judging by the latest moves, seems to finally want to solve everything that Holbrooke and the then US administration failed in the Balkans.

Following his example, Washington is sending five experienced diplomats to the Balkans who were part of the team of the now legendary diplomatic "bulldozer", Holbrooke.

Gabriel Escobar will replace Matthew Palmer as the State Department's Special Representative for the Western Balkans. Escobar was the mediator in overcoming the crisis between Belgrade and Pristina, due to the introduction of reciprocity for license plates, which after his intervention, the tension was overcome.

Biden also named Christopher Hill ambassador to Serbia. Hill is an experienced diplomat and was a key ally of Richard Holbrooke, a member of his team, and a participant in the Dayton and Rambouillet negotiations. He has been ambassador to Macedonia, Albania, Poland, North Korea and Iraq and is considered one of the most experienced diplomats available to the US State Department.

Jeffrey Howenier will be the new ambassador to Pristina. He is a specialist in the Balkans and will come to Kosovo from Turkey. It is widely reported that he should carry out the task he received from US President Biden: To monitor whether Belgrade and President Vucic in Kosovo are implementing what Vucic has been promising to US diplomats for several years. Of course, it is not stated what exactly was promised by Belgrade and what exactly has not been implemented so far. Identical to Hill and Howenier, he participated in the Rambouillet negotiations as a member of Martti Ahtisaari's team.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will also have a new US ambassador - Michael Murphy, a State Department veteran with 30 years of experience in international politics. He is currently Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. Murphy is expected to deal with the Serbian member of the presidency, Milorad Dodik, who, in addition to announcing the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina, ignores foreign and international institutions positioned in Sarajevo as the guarantor of the existence of "Dayton Bosnia".

James O'Brien, who has been nominated as the State Department's sanctions policy coordinator, will also deal with the Balkans. He is considered a key American in drafting the Dayton Peace Accords. From 1989 to 2001, he was a senior adviser to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and envoy of then-President Clinton to the Balkans.

It remains to be seen whether this diplomatic "Dream Team" five will finally frame and finally resolve the turbulent relations and events on the Pristina-Belgrade-Banja Luka Sarajevo route. All this as a consequence of a time when exactly these 5 diplomats were solving the problems of the region that arose from the disintegration of the SFRY.

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