The dismissal of the Management Team for the Association of Municipalities with a Serb Majority by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, just one day after the latest high-level EU-backed meeting with Serbia in Brussels, sparked criticism from the EU.
Kurti met with Serbian President Aleksander Vucic in the latest in a line of EU-backed talks to normalise relations between the two countries. The main topic on the agenda was the contentious establishment of an ethnic-Serb association in the north of the country, which Belgrade says will give Serbs more autonomy and rights.
A version of a potential framework was presented by the team, but Kurti dismissed it as being unconstitutional as per a 2015 court ruling. Instead, he presented his own framework, a which he said is in line with his country’s fundamental laws.
Vucic: Belgrade, Pristina 'hit a wall', Kurti presents draft framework for ethnic Serbs
After the latest high-level EU-facilitated meeting between Belgrade and Pristina, Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said talks have hit a wall, while Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said he presented his own plan to diffuse ethnic tensions.
Following a meeting on normalising …
One day after the meeting, Kurti greenlighted an order dismissing the entire team appointed by the previous government and headed by Danijela Vujicic, an MP from Serbia’s ruling party.
The EU did not welcome the news, with spokesperson Peter Stano saying the team should be functional until the moment the association is agreed upon and implemented.
“As for the reported decision of Kosovo to disband the management team, the dialogue agreements clearly state that the management team must be in operation until the statute of the Association/Community for Municipalities with a Serbian majority is approved,” he told kallxo.com.
He added it “violates the letter and spirit of the dialogue agreements.”
“Any decision regarding the management team must be approved in the framework of the EU-facilitated dialogue,” declared Stano.
Stano added that the EU mediators, Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, will invite Kosovo and Serbia’s chief negotiators, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic, to start negotiations on the charter and that the Management Team will be invited to participate if necessary.
Kosovo, Serbia fall short of diffusing tensions, agree to resolve war missing cases
Kosovo and Serbia’s leaders met in Brussels on Tuesday (2 May) for talks on the EU-backed plan to normalise relations, agreeing to cooperate on resolving cases of missing persons but stumbling on lowering tensions in Serb-majority North Kosovo.
“We expect both sides to engage in the process constructively and in good faith and to conclude negotiations quickly,” Stano said.
Meanwhile, the German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde told RTK that the association must align with the country’s constitution.
“We are far away from understanding the nature of the Association, however, Germany will continue to support the full implementation of all the agreements that have been accepted and signed in Brussels, as well as to support Kosovo. We have always said that any type of statute must be by the Constitution of Kosovo”, he told RTK.
The German diplomat, however, criticised the government for dismissing the management team, saying it was not in accordance with the Brussels Agreements.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
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