West tight lipped on Albanian PMs draft for Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has drawn up a draft for the Association of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, which he sent to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while the European Commission, US, France, and Germany remain tight-lipped about its contents.

The association was agreed on during an EU-backed dialogue in 2013 before being ruled unconstitutional by Kosovo’s highest court in 2015. The association would allow Serbs collective self governance in most areas including health, education, urban planning, and the economy as Kosovo Serbs do not recognise Pristina’s authority to govern.

It has remained a sticking point in all negotiations with Serbia, with the US and EU insisting on it, while Kosovo maintains Serbia has also not stuck to various provisions and that while it is happy to create an association, it must be in line with the Constitution.

After weeks of heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo over protests in the north, Rama presented a draft for the association on Thursday.

“Yesterday, I forwarded to President Macron and Chancellor Scholz, who are the two godfathers of the Franco-German proposal, a draft of the association, for which I informed the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, as well as the American side,” he said during a press conference.

He said the draft has long been prepared, and he was waiting for the right time to present it.

“It is a draft prepared by the highest level American and European experts for a long time, which was done just in case this day would come, this day when the parties and in this case, for me, the position of Kosovo and not of Serbia, the parties are not even able to agree on who should write this text and no longer agree on what the text should contain,” he said.

Rama said the document will remain confidential and does not pretend to be the ideal solution, but added it is a document of the highest international level that takes into account all the reasons for creating the association and its place in the Republic of Kosovo, in line with the constitution.

“I wish and hope that this material will be useful to take the dialogue to another level and to make the parties talk about concrete things, things related to the successful conclusion of the dialogue and not to talk to themselves and about themselves,” he added.

“The situation is becoming alarming, and I cannot remain a spectator watching Kosovo shrink and shrink in the eyes of those who created the state of Kosovo,” Rama said.

Rama said that he is very concerned about the situation in the North and the statements of international partners. He emphasised that Kosovo should accept international proposals as there is a risk of losing its sovereignty.

“I am worried about the ultimate tones of the allies, which can bring incalculable consequences in many aspects, starting from the consequence of the increase in the number of troops in Kosovo, which means a decrease in the sovereign capacity of Kosovo,” he said.

Rama added that also at risk is the chance to fully integrate the north into Kosovo’s institutional life instead of risking it being passed to the control of foreigners, likely in reference to Serbia.

But the proposal has not been well received by all in Kosovo. Ruling party Vetevendosje Deputy Armend Muja accused Rama of closeness to Serbia and its President Alexander Vucic.

“By sending a charter for the ‘Association’ to Berlin and Paris, Rama is only exposing and strengthening his Association with Vucic. Edi Rama must be caught somewhere for crime and corruption, as long as he is forced to do this to himself publicly in front of the entire Albanian nation,” Muja said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Albin Kurti told parliament he has proposed a draft vision of the association to the mediators based on the Croatian model.

“I was inspired by Croatia’s model for national minorities for three reasons. First; Croatia emerged from the war during the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia, as did Kosovo. The second; because Croatia is an example of the success of a member country in the EU and NATO. The third; is because Serbia already has an agreement with Croatia for good neighbourly relations and which also includes the rights of national minorities,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi reacted, stating the association is being used by Serbia not to integrate the local Serbs in Kosovo, but as a “Trojan Horse” to make the country a dysfunctional state and to continue with the plan for dividing the country.

“Kosovo has repeatedly warned the international community about the real reasons why Serbia insists on the formation of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority. The association was never intended to integrate the local Serbs in Kosovo, but to be like Belgrade’s ‘Trojan Horse’ to make the country dysfunctional, thus preparing the way for separation,” Bislimi wrote on Twitter.

Kosovo is home to several Serb-majority areas. While there are four in the north, there are also Gracanica, and several enclaves in the Gjilan area. Serbs here live peacefully alongside Albanians and there have been no protests or similar scenes of unrest in these more southern areas. But in the midst of the troubled north, sits the Trepca Mine complex which is home to at least 60.5 million tonnes of ore, as well as millions of tonnes of lead, zinc, and silver. The two governments have long wrestled over who controls the mines with Serbia rejecting Kosovo’s repeated attempts to take the mines over.

Kosovo politicians have long insisted that the association will result in a Republika Srpska type structure, as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will pave the way for the inclusion of the north, and its lucrative mines, into Serbia.

The German and French embassies in Tirana did not want to comment on the draft and the European Commission did not respond to a request for comment.

A German government spokesperson, however, confirmed they had received such a document but that its contents remain confidential.

As for France, a source with a deep knowledge of the ongoing negotiations said that France supports its own pace plan and will not comment further on the subject.

(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)