USAID chief Power heads to Serbia, Kosovo to lower tensions

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States’ top international development chief is heading to Serbia and Kosovo this week to meet with leaders there. Samantha Power’s travel comes as U.S. and European leaders work to stabilize relations between the two former wartime enemies at a time of heightened tensions. Power becomes the first head of the U.S. Agency for International Development to travel to Serbia, which maintains close historical and cultural ties with Russia. Serbia and Kosovo have remained on often hostile terms since Kosovo’s 1990s split from Serbia at the end of the Cold War. Power will encourage both countries to stay on a path of normalizing relations and moving toward European Union membership.