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| - Kosovo premier Albin Kurti on Monday sharply accused a US envoy of engineering the collapse of his government last month, saying the diplomat was trying to clear a path to ink a controversial deal with Serbia. Kurti, a left-wing reformist who is now caretaker PM, said US diplomat Richard Grenell put heavy "pressure" on his coalition partner to quit their alliance, a move that plunged Kosovo into political crisis less than two months after the new government took office. Grenell, who has also ruffled feathers with his confrontational style as US acting intelligence chief and ambassador to Berlin, was appointed last year by President Donald Trump to work on the thorny relationship between Serbia and Kosovo. At the heart of their dispute is Serbia's refusal to accept the independence of Kosovo, a former province, declared after their war 20 years ago. Kurti told reporters Grenell was "directly involved" in toppling his government because he wanted to advance a deal with Serbia that would involve border changes -- a highly sensitive proposal that the US official swiftly denied on Twitter. "My government wasn't overthrown for anything else but simply because Ambassador Grenell is in a rush to sign a deal with Serbia, which I strongly believe is harmful since it includes territorial exchange," Kurti said during a video press conference with foreign media. Grenell responded on Twitter that "there has been absolutely no talk of land swaps from me - and it's never been discussed by anyone else in my presence". There have long been rumours that Serbia's and Kosovo's presidents are cooking up an accord that would involve trading pockets of territory. The prospect alarms many in a war-scarred region where borders have often been redrawn through bloodshed. Kurti accused Grenell of trying to push through a "quick deal" to score political points during Trump's "electoral year". Kurti's political future, meanwhile, remains unclear. His rival President Hashim Thaci, who has been at the centre of Kosovo politics for over a decade, says he will start the process to form a new government this week. Kurti has instead called for fresh elections, saying his removal could spark "destabilisation" and protests from those who elected his former opposition party in October in a vote for change. ih-ssm/spm
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