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A controversial reservoir between Kosovo and Serbia could soon be named after US President Donald Trump: as Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti wrote on Twitter, he supports a proposal by US diplomat Richard Grenell to name Lake Ujman after Trump. In Serbia, the body of water that lies at an altitude of almost 700 meters is called Lake Gazivoda.
The name change is intended to honor Trump’s role in brokering a “landmark agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia,” Hoti wrote.
According to the AFP news agency, a banner with the words “Trump Lake” hung on the Kosovar side of the reservoir on Thursday. A banner on the Serbian side thanked the US president for bringing “peace” to the region. The Serbian government has not yet officially commented on the possible name change.
Initially, the suggested name was apparently just a joke.
Under the mediation of the US special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo, Grenell, an economic rapprochement agreement was recently reached, which was signed at the White House in early September. It also envisages a feasibility study to “divide” the disputed lake claimed by both Kosovo and Serbia.
Grenell recently said on a US talk show that his suggestion to name the lake after Trump was originally a joke. “There was an incredible discussion about the name (of the lake), so I said jokingly, ‘I’ll only talk about Trump Lake,'” said the former US ambassador in Berlin. However, the Serbian and Kosovar heads of government immediately jumped into it and declared that they agreed with such a name change.
There has been a dispute over the reservoir for years. Three-quarters of the water is found in Kosovar territory and it is an important reservoir of drinking water for around a third of the Kosovar population. Most of the cooling water for Kosovo’s coal-fired power plants is also drawn from the lake. Serbia, on the other hand, considers the lake to be state property.
Kosovo separated from Serbia in 2008. The government of Belgrade has not yet recognized the independence of its former province.
