Osmani: No plans to meet Vucic in Spain

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani refused to meet her Serbian counterpart in Spain until the West, including the European Union, takes measures against Belgrade following the terrorist attack in the north of Kosovo on 24 September.

Osmani is in Granada with some 50 leaders of EU member states and other European countries for a two-day political summit.

“There is no reason to meet before sanctions are imposed on Vucic. Sanctions at first, and then we can talk about more”, said Osmani at the entrance of the meeting in Granada within the framework of the European Political Community.

In her address before entering the summit, Osmani said she had not confirmed any face-to-face meetings with Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and that it was not on the agenda.

“Everything that happened on September 24 will not help the situation to be stabilised. That terrorist act was not against Kosovo, but it was against the peace and stability that they were trying to create. We have not confirmed face-to-face meetings, but such conversations take place even when we are in larger groups,” said Osmani.

She added that Europe is going through difficult times, including Kosovo, which faced an “act of aggression from Serbia, carried out by a group of paramilitaries and terrorists.”

She called on European allies to impose sanctions on Serbia “so they will not be encouraged to repeat such acts against Kosovo and its neighbours again and again.”

The president also said she hopes Spain, which does not recognise Kosovo’s independence, will join any possible sanctions.

While momentum is growing in the European Parliament for action against Serbia and the lifting of so-called ‘sanctions’ against Kosovo, the UK has also backed Pristina’s stance.

British MP Alicia Kearns criticised the international community for the position they are holding and have held regarding Kosovo.

On X, she wrote that while facts implicate Serbia as the aggression, no measures have been taken.

“Radoicic remains free in Serbia. There are still no measures for Belgrade from Great Britain, the USA, the EU, despite the killing of the police officer, the arming of paramilitaries, the kidnapping of policemen, nor the role in the serious wounding of NATO troops. However, Kosovo remains under EU sanctions. Preventive diplomacy?” Kearns said.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)