Kosovo’s parliamentary speaker reiterates accusations against Lajcak

The speaker of Kosovo’s parliament, Glauk Konjufca, has become the latest in a line of politicians to accuse the EU’s Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajcak, of bias in the ongoing Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process.

Following the meeting in Brussels between Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksander Vucic, flanked by Lajcak and chief diplomat Josep Borrell, Kurti made statements to the media that accused Lajcak of bias and favouring Serbia in the process.

Konjufca said on Wednesday that the statements made by Kurti are not accusations but findings based on the work carried out by Lajcak. He added that the positions articulated by the envoy are the same as those from Belgrade.

“I do not think they were accusations; they were some findings of Lajcak’s way of working. It has been observed from the beginning that Lajcak’s positions, which he articulates most, are those of Serbia. The mechanisms and formations he proposes could have been the starting point of Serbia’s positions,” he said.

He continued that there can be no Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo if Serbia does not recognise Kosovo as a state and its symbols.

“The original idea is that there is no Association without recognition. You cannot take Association and remove it from the idea of recognition. Call it what you will, de-facto recognition. Serbia must agree that when I cross the border in Merdare, it is another state that exists. I have to recognise our flag, symbols and it should not hinder us anywhere we apply to international organisations”, said Konjufca.

The association was agreed on by a previous government during EU negotiations but was then ruled unconstitutional by Kosovo’s highest court. Attempts to find a solution acceptable to both sides and in line with the Kosovo Constitution have floundered so far.

US Ambassador Jeffery Hovenier also waded into the debate, issuing a statement at the Peace and Democracy Summit taking place in Pristina.

He expressed “full confidence in the EU in its mediation of the dialogue” and that of the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and Lajcak, calling them “objective implementers of this policy.”

“It is important that all actors in this operation, in this process, accept the process they are in and play poker with the cards they have been dealt. And having this vision in mind, the work for the normalisation of relations, for the full implementation of the Ohrid Agreement and the Annex from both sides, which is our expectation, is the way forward. This brings Kosovo closer to the vision we share for full integration into the Euro-Atlantic structures”, Hovenier said.

The accusations against Lajcak intensified earlier in the week when the former head of the Intelligence services, Burim Ramadani, accused him of being involved in a scandal linked to Belgrade.

“A scandal will topple Lajcak. The scandal that may come to Lajcak and his team will ultimately remove him from mediating the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia,” he wrote on Facebook.

When asked by Euractiv, the Commission’s lead spokesperson on foreign policy, Peter Stano, said the Commission does not comment on “baseless allegations”.

“The EU Member States- 27 of them- repeatedly made very clear that they fully support HRVP Borrell and EUSR Lajcak in their efforts to help Kosovo and Serbia to normalise relations, Stano said in response to the accusations of bias.

Former Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj told Euractiv earlier this year that Kosovo has a strategic review of its participation in the EU dialogue and how the EU treats Kosovo compared to Serbia. “Kosovo should not be held hostage because of EU structural and political issues to achieve lasting peace and mutual recognition,” she said.

The former minister added, “I do not see the point of Kosovo participating in EU-led dialogue anymore, so this could be achieved by US mediation as the US recognises both Kosovo and Serbia as states and it is impartial.”

Concerns have also been raised because Lajcak is from Slovakia and Borrell is from Spain, two countries that do not recognise Kosovo’s independence.

(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)