U.S. official will visit Kosovo for talks

TIRANA, Albania — A senior U.S. official on Tuesday said he would be visiting Kosovo in the next days to put “back on track” talks on normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia after tensions escalated over Kosovo’s decision to ban the use of the Serbian dinar.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar said he would discuss with Kosovo authorities a possible resolution of the “uncoordinated decision” to ban Serbia’s dinar and transfers from Serbia to citizens of Kosovo who depend on social services and payments.

The government of Kosovo banned banks and other financial institutions in ethnic Serbian-dominated areas, especially in Kosovo’s north, from using the dinar in local transactions starting Feb. 1 and imposed the euro. The dinar was widely used to pay pensions and salaries to staff in Serbian-run institutions, including schools and hospitals.

The ban angered Kosovo Serbs and Serbia and has fueled Western concerns about regional tensions as a full-scale war rages in Ukraine.

Escobar acknowledged that Washington and Brussels were struggling to get Pristina-Belgrade dialogue “back on track.”

“There is no other alternative than the EU-facilitated dialogue,” Escobar told an online news conference from Brussels, urging Pristina and Belgrade “to show goodwill and prevent any provocations.”