Apparently, Grennell was mostly responsible for the 2020 agreement, which really amounted to little more than a letter of intent, with both parties agreeing to maybe think about working towards many things with no specifics of how these goals would be achieved or any target dates of achieving them.
It’s a classic Trump move to let him claim a win without doing the hard part.
Now it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, partly because the parliaments that need to ratify it don’t seem inclined to do so, and partly because it wasn’t a real deal in the first place. Also, these efforts undercut the EU’s parallel efforts to broker a deal between the two countries.
Now, politically I’m not sure why Trump and Grennell still have such an interest, but I would t be surprised if there wasn’t money in it for someone (the deal does appear to include some construction projects). Or he may be enabling a dictator but I don’t know enough about the politics in the area - I didn’t know about this deal until today. And it does seem designed to weaken the EU’s influence in the Balkans.
In the unlikely event that it works, Trump can claim all the credit, while in the more likely situation where it falls apart, Trump can crow that he had an agreement in place that would have solved the Kosovo problem except that Biden dropped the ball.
Can we here detect the fine hand of one V.P.—still, quite possibly, advising the Mango Menace? (You know Trump would ADORE getting regular calls from Vlad.)
Diplomatic etiquette may well require the discreet passing of an envelope of cash to said “Ambassador.” After all, in much of the world, it’s prudent to play both sides in case the would-be dictator DOES get back into power.
Said “Ambassador” would be expected to hand the envelopes over to Donald, of course. But at least said “Ambassador” probably gets a few cocktails and hors d’oeuvres out of the deal.