
“Europeans are not able to fully help themselves, we still need the help of the United States of America”.
This is how MEP Lukas Mandl expressed himself in an interview for The Geopost, adding that Serbia has an atmosphere of hatred and a very negative ideology towards Kosovo.
“We must be clear about the fact that even in this state of aggression from abroad on European soil, we are not able to fully help ourselves in Europe, we still need the help of the US and I want to be honest about that and to always be clear and transparent about this, but still, the European Union is doing more than ever before,” said Mandl.
The Austrian MEP adds that it is always Serbia that blocks Kosovo.
“It is not Kosovo that blocks Serbia, it is always Serbia that blocks Kosovo, even the worst, it is clearly an atmosphere of hatred, a very negative ideology towards Kosovo from this northern neighbor”, he added.
Speaking about the Russian military aggression in Ukraine, Mandl emphasizes that Europe is doing more than ever before against this situation.
“Europe is doing more than ever before in such a situation, on the other hand there has not been such a situation since 1945, there were the Balkan wars, there was also the attack against Kosovo, the aggression against Kosovo and at that time Europe was not able to solve the issues on European soil on its own, it needed help from outside and we can be clear about that, it needed help from the United States of America,” Mandl emphasizes.
According to him, if the final agreement with Serbia has mutual recognition, then it would contribute to the peace and stability of the region.
“I hope it will be soon and the final agreement can only be final if it is about mutual recognition in every aspect and a good contact of cooperation between countries which are even neighbor countries, so this is the objective and everything else would be too little in order to serve for good future in peace and prosperity and freedom for everybody”, he emphasizes.
In this interview, he also commented on the initiative of the European Parliament to create a Commission for Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi due to his close ties with Aleksandar Vucic.
Full interview
The Geopost: How do you see Ukraine invasion from Russia, has European Union done enough to help Ukraine?
It’s nearly already a year that Putin and Russia has waged war against Ukraine militarily but with means and measures of what we call it hybrid warfare against all of us, against whole free world and this is clearly something that it has to be solved and Europe is doing a lot.
Europe is doing more than ever before in any situation like that, on the other side, there was no situation like that since 1945, the western Balkan wars, there was also the attack against Kosovo, the aggression against Kosovo and that time Europe was not able to solve issues on European soil itself, it needed help from outside and we can be clear about that, it needed help from United States, we also have to be clear about the fact that also in this status of aggression from outside on European soil, we are not able to entirely help ourselves in Europe, we again need help of the US and I want to remain frank about that and always be clear and transparent about that, but anyway, the European Union is doing more than ever before.
It’s using the European peace facility which is meant to be used exactly for situations like this in order to secure the Europeans and to provide security for this generation in Europe and for generations to come. The member states of the European Union have increased their defense budgets, invested more in security now and beside the military defense that is conducted in Ukraine, by brave Ukrainian troops actually, Europe is also doing something which is part of our civilization I would say today, it’s defending itself against bloody war attack with bloodless means of measures, meaning the sanctions, and the sanctions are very important to overcome this organized crime system of Putin Russia.
The Geopost: Can you please comment on European Parliament wanting to create a commission for Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi because of his close ties with Vucic?
I have to share with you a clear view that I, in the first place respect each and every EU official. In EU everybody is democratically legitimized and everybody has very clear responsibility, that’s especially true for the European Commission and we as parliamentarians of the European parliament, we are among other things there to scrutinize on the conduct of the European Commission, we are also there to control the one or the other development and of course to set legal framework for everything that is about the EU. Our role is the one of lawmakers, of course together with member states governments and on the basis of the recommendations of two commissions.
Having said that, I had some critical talks with the commission for enlargement you have just mentioned in the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament a few months ago on the occasion of the NN report on the integration processes.
The commissioner for example stated his view that Kosovo should contribute more to the dialogue, I clearly responded with the question, why would Kosovo have to contribute more to the dialogue when it’s not Kosovo blocking Serbia anywhere, it’s always Serbia blocking Kosovo, and even worst. It’s clearly an atmosphere of hatred, very negative ideology towards Kosovo from this northern neighbor.
I can at least say after this public meeting in the foreign affairs committee, after some personal talks with him as well, I have heard him say in the plenary of the European Parliament that he wants both sides to contribute to the dialogue.
This is still a position in need for some additional interpretation because there is not both sides as it would be on same level. Everything you do for obvious reasons in terms of history, in terms of size, in terms of status quo, in terms of recognition and non-recognition and membership in the international organizations, so we have to do a lot there and you can be assured that there are many members of the European Parliament who really, really want to see the commission behaving in a constructive positive way to solving the issues side by side with our trans-Atlantic partner, the United States of America, but always with lead from European Union, because Kosovo is European, the rest of Balkans are clearly European, actually they are middle of Europe and this is why if Europe takes itself seriously and Europe wants to get engaged in its own destiny, so to speak, on its own fate, then it will be necessary to clearly solve these issues.
The Geopost: Do you see an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia this year?
I don’t predict times and dates, because I’ve been in politics for too long to know or to not know that things can be postponed and things are happening from time to time to rational reasons sometimes but also sometimes due to irrational reasons, but no matter when the final agreement will be, I hope it will be soon and the final agreement can only be final if it’s about mutual recognition in each and every respect and a good contact of cooperation between countries which are even neighbor countries, so this is the objective and everything else would be too little in order to serve for good future in peace and prosperity and freedom for everybody. /TheGeopost/