Top US and EU lawmakers say West is too soft on Serbia when it comes to easing Kosovo tensions

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — Senior lawmakers from the United States and Europe are calling for a change in the Western diplomatic approach toward Serbia and Kosovo. They fear that tensions between the two could rapidly spiral out of control. In the letter, signed by Senate Foreign Relations chair Bob Menendez and his counterparts in Germany, the U.K. and Ukraine among others, the lawmakers warn that not enough pressure is being put on Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. One of the signatories, Dutch EU lawmaker Thijs Reuten, told AP Wednesday of the danger “the EU and allies have brought themselves into with the continued appeasement of autocrats in the region like Vucic and (Bosnian Serb leader Milorad) Dodik.”