Former President Donald Trump issued a statement Thursday saying that his "envoy ambassador" Richard Grenell visited the Kosovo-Serbia border to express frustration that historic normalization agreements have not been implemented.
The Trump administration worked to secure the 2020 Serbia-Kosovo economic normalization agreements, a pair of documents in which the two Balkan countries agreed to facilitate economic normalization among themselves with help from the U.S.
President Joe Biden, however, has, so far, not gotten involved.
"The great people of Serbia and Kosovo have overcome tremendous obstacles in their pursuit of economic normalization. The agreements my administration brokered are historic and should not be abandoned, many lives are at stake," Trump said in a statement released by his Save America PAC and tweeted by spokeswoman Liz Harrington.
"The region is too important and the people have waited too long for this work to be cast aside."
Grenell, named special envoy for the Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations by Trump in October 2019, held an impromptu press conference Thursday at the Merdare border crossing between the two countries.
"Today, my Envoy Ambassador Ric Grenell visited the Kosovo-Serbia border to highlight this important agreement," Trump said.
"Just like we proved in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords, peace and economic normalization is possible, but it takes a sincere effort and unwavering leadership. Peace is possible, don’t give up — long term prosperity for those two nations is at stake!"
Grenell, former ambassador to Germany, took to Twitter to mention his visit.
"Today I walked over the Kosovo Serbia border at Merdare," Grenell tweeted. "Donald Trump got this new crossing station operational as part of the 4 Economic Normalization Agreements he achieved."
Grenell told reporters he came to the region "because we are frustrated."
"Many of the Trump administration and many Americans are frustrated because we saw a historic agreement, an economic one, which we agreed on for the people of Kosovo and the people of Serbia is not respected," Grenell said, The Pavlovic Today reported.
Grenell, who served as acting director of national intelligence in 2020, added the Kosovo-Serbia agreement "was not done for governments" but for "economic development."
The National Interest recently reported Serbia has returned troops to the border with Kosovo and patrols the boundary from the sky with Russian-made fighter jets.
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