German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have decided to become actively involved in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, the media write.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have decided to become much more actively involved in the dialogue between Serbs from Belgrade and Albaniens from Pristina, the media write.

Proof of this is the joint letter addressed to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, which, unlike some previous statements, does not exude diplomatic sophistication or statesmanlike restraint.

On the contrary, it seemed more like something halfway between a suggestion and a threat, with one concrete move – both of them send their direct advisers for international politics, experienced diplomats Jens Plettner and Emanuel Bonn, to the negotiations. The goal is to “move the process forward quickly.”

Analysts for “Blic” assess that they are “experienced, strategic firefighters”, which shows that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija is “serious and potentially incendiary”.

In a letter to Aleksandar Vučić, Scholz and Macron appeal to him to show “maximum determination and readiness to make difficult decisions, which lead to progress in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, under the auspices of the EU”.

The letter certainly aroused the interest of the entire Serbian public, as well as the question of who Plettner and Bonn are who, by all accounts, will take over the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. The president of the Forum for Strategic Studies (FORST), Dr Neven Cveticanin, points out for “Blic” that Plettner and Bonn are diplomats of the highest rank and even compares them with the famous American politician Henry Kissinger, who during the seventies significantly contributed to the relaxation of the Cold War and the calming of tensions between the US and the former USSR.

“Both Plettner and Bonn were involved in the most important negotiations in the world in previous years. “Plettner mediated the agreement in Minsk between Russia and Ukraine in 2015, while Bonn participated in the nuclear agreement with Iran, which was concluded in 2015 by the USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, Russia and China,” Cveticanin emphasizes.

As he says, Plettner is the creator of German foreign policy. “He went through all the most important strategic functions until he became the adviser for foreign and security policy of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Bonn in France had a similar professional path. These are the people for communication with major world leaders such as Biden, Blinken, Xi Jinping…

Their involvement in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina indicates that the situation is indeed serious and potentially incendiary,” Cvetićanin assesses. Cveticanin also believes that Plettner and Bonn cannot be compared to any diplomat who has participated in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina so far.

“With due respect to all predecessors, Plettner and Bonn are rare diplomats and champions of shuttle diplomacy. They are respected both in the East and in the West, since they participated in the agreements with Iran, Russia and Ukraine… Based on all this, it can be concluded that Germany and France will be involved in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and not only formally as soon as they are sent diplomats of such a serious rank”, underlines Cvetićanin.

“They are not fans, but cold surgeons of diplomacy,” he adds. Cvetićanin predicts that Plettner and Bonn’s dialogue with radical politicians such as Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will be particularly interesting.

“These are very smart people, diplomats with small connections who will hold talks with the officials of both Belgrade and Pristina in order to scan the situation and, based on that, conclude what can be done in the dialogue. That’s why it would be good if we also had our diplomats of such a serious rank who could respond to such a challenge in order to protect our interests on a realistic basis and avoid any strategic scissors of great powers”, concludes Cvetićanin.

On the other hand, the president of the board of directors of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Dušan Janjić, believes that Plettner and Bonn will speed up the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

“These are experts who know the situation in the Western Balkans. They can and should help Lajčak and Borrell. It turned out that the bureaucrats who have been working for 10 years in these areas are of no use. Plettner and Bonn are representatives of shuttle diplomacy, which will certainly accelerate the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. It is the EU’s response to the inclusion of the USA in the dialogue process a month ago”, Janjić assesses for “Blic”.

As he says, it is possible that as soon as in October there will be numerous issues on the negotiation table between Belgrade and Pristina.