EU, against the dismissal of the Management Team for the Association

2023-05-05 09:44:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

EU, against the dismissal of the Management Team for the Association

Josep Borrell

The EU has described the decision of the Kosovo government to release the Management Team for the Association's statute as a violation of the spirit of the dialogue agreements.

The European Union has not looked favorably on the decision of the Kosovo government, which dismissed the Management Team that presented in Brussels the draft statute of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. According to the European Union, the role of the Management Team for the statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo ends only when that statute is approved. Therefore, according to the European Union, "the decision of the Government of Kosovo to dismiss him is contrary to the agreement".

Stano: The parties had agreed on the composition of the Management Team

This was said during a statement at a press conference in Brussels by the spokesperson of the European Union for foreign policy and security, Peter Stano. "Therefore, the decision to disband the Management Team 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," said spokesman Stano. According to him, "the parties were agreed on the composition of the Management Team. The members of the Management Team have been proposed by Serbia and officially appointed by Kosovo", said the spokesperson Stano adding that "the dialogue agreements clearly state that the management teams must exist until the Association's statute is approved". "The Management Team proposed and presented the draft first, which means they started the process, not that the process ended. Therefore,

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, repeated the position of the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, that "achieving the Kosovo-Serbia agreement is necessary and the parties move forward in the European integration process", and that, "in case of failure , there will be consequences for both countries, including financial ones".

Just one day after presenting the draft statute of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority, on May 2 in Brussels, the Kosovo government dismissed the Management Team that was established by the previous governments of Kosovo in 2016. The management team consisted of four persons, members of the Serbian community, Danijella Vuji?i?, Jellena Bollovi?, Igor Kallamar and Dejan Radojkovi?. The coordinator of the management team was Danijella Vuji?i?, at that time a representative of the Srpska list, now a deputy in the Serbian Parliament, from the party of President Aleksandar Vu?i?. Regarding the Coordinator of the Management Team, Danijella Vujicic, Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti said that "she is in a conflict of interest, because she took the oath as a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia".

The reaction of the official Belgrade through the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia was immediate, which described it as a "one-sided" and "illegal" decision. "The mandate of the Management Team does not end with the presentation of the draft statute of the Association. The management team has an important role in the very process of forming the Association, until its creation", said the director of this office, Petar Petkovic.

According to the draft statute presented by the Management Team, which was dismissed by Kurti, the Association will be a "special form of organization, established for the purpose of protecting human and minority rights". This draft was immediately rejected by the Prime Minister. of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, as he said "it is not compatible with the Constitution of Kosovo".

The pressure on Pristina for the Association increases

Meanwhile, the international pressure on official Pristina to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority has not stopped. The American envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said after the Brussels meeting between Kurt and Vu?i? that "the implementation of the Kosovo-Serbia agreement on the normalization of relations, which was reached in Ohrid, begins with the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo. He added: "This process is very important and both parties, especially Kosovo, must take it seriously and move forward in an accelerated manner". According to him, "The European Union and the United States are focused on making the Ohrid agreement a reality, and this reality becomes a reality with the Association".

Criticism from Germany as well

Even the German ambassador in Kosovo, Jörn Rohde, has criticized the Government of Kosovo for the dismissal of the members of the Management Team for the Association's statute, saying that the decision is not in accordance with the Brussels Agreements. However, according to him, any type of statute for the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority must be in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo. "We are very far from understanding the nature of the Association, however, Germany will continue to support the full implementation of all agreements that have been accepted and signed in Brussels, as well as to support Kosovo. We have always said that any statute should be in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo", said Ambassador Rohde, in an interview for the public medium./ DW