After a meeting with key US and EU stakeholders, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the topics of non-recognisers and membership to international institutions were the most crucial, while the US envoy to the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue said that if Kurti were not to cooperate on key agreements, internationals would implement them anyway.
On Friday, Kurti met with the EU’s special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, his US counterpart Gabriel Escobar, advisors for foreign policy and security from Germany and France and the diplomatic advisor to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Kurti’s office also said the proposal for the so-called Franco-German final agreement was discussed and that the prime minister thought it was a “good basis for further discussion to move forward towards full normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia with the mutual recognition in the centre.”
His office added that the rights of minorities in the country had been discussed “within the general framework of an agreement proposed by him [Kurti] on 18 August 2022 in Brussels.”
Lajcak said the meeting with Kurti took more than two hours and was “not simple, but was honest and open.” He added, however, that “at this point, we expected a better understanding of what the proposal offers. I hope we get there and use the full potential of this proposal.”
While Kosovo continues to focus on mutual recognition and membership in key institutions such as the EU, the Council of Europe, and NATO, internationals and Serbia remain focused on creating the Association of Serb Municipalities.
Based on an agreement signed in 2013, it would see the creation of a structure parallel to the Pristina government, operating in Kosovo and comprising ethnic Serbs from Serb-majority municipalities.
Kurti, who was not in power when the agreement was signed, has spoken out against the agreement saying it would create a failed state and problems similar to those in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Republika Srpska.
He also notes a ruling from the country’s Constitutional Court, which said the association is not viable. President Vjosa Osmani has been clear she supports an association but that it should function like an NGO and not have executive powers.
But Lajcak said after the meeting that the creation of the association is necessary to achieve normalisation of relations.
“For us, the overdue implementation of the Association or Community of Serbian Majority Municipalities is a crucial element for stability and we remain convinced that a plan we presented in September and we discussed today is the best way for normalisation of relation between Serbia and Kosovo”.
Escobar told Voice of America in an interview that the Franco-German plan is the best proposal to normalise relations, but that Kosovo must establish the association.
“A person and a party cannot avoid an international legal obligation. This is a fact…We will do this. The issue is at what point will Kosovo be clear that the international community expects it to do this, demands that it do this,” Escobar said.
He added that it does not need the consent of the prime minister to be advanced.
“We will start talks at the national level about what this obligation means for the citizens of Kosovo…Kurti does not need to agree, Kosovo has agreed…One person, one party cannot avoid it, this is an existing liability. Kosovo has already agreed, the question is how it will be implemented.”
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
