EU: On May 15, the Serbian dinar will be discussed

2024-05-13 13:30:14, Kosova & Bota CNA

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, has confirmed that on May 15, Kosovo and Serbia will hold the next meeting on the issue of banning the use of the Serbian dinar in Kosovo.

This will be the seventh meeting in a row at the level of the chief negotiators dedicated to this topic, while in the six previous meetings the chief negotiator of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, and the one of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, have not reached an agreement on any compromise solution.

During the press conference in Brussels, speaking about the next meeting on the issue of the dinar, Stano said that the EU expects the parties to demonstrate readiness to find a temporary practical solution, which, according to him, would help the citizens affected by the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo.

"We expect the parties to have European behavior and find a compromise solution. Chief negotiators tend to find solutions through confidential discussions, and these are the European way of finding solutions. The EU continues to help them to find the compromise which is necessary because it affects people's lives", said Stano.

Earlier, Stano had stated that the May 15 meeting will be the last meeting on the subject of the dinar. Asked about the expectations that Wednesday's meeting will really be the last, Stano said that "the EU always expects that every meeting where solutions to problems are sought will be final, but this depends on the readiness of the parties to find solutions".

The EU spokesperson said that the reluctance to find a solution to the dinar issue is affecting other issues that are not being dealt with in the dialogue because the focus is now on this issue. He said that the priority remains the implementation of the Agreement on the road to the normalization of relations, which Kosovo and Serbia reached last year.

The announcement of the next meeting of the dialogue, which is mediated by the European Union, comes after the transitional period of the Regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo ended last weekend, which foresees the euro as the only currency for making payments in Kosovo.

This regulation entered into force on February 1st, but the authorities decided on a transitional phase, which made it easier to implement this decision.

The CBK regulation foresees penalties for those who use the Serbian dinar. However, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, declared for the public broadcaster of Kosovo that the CBK regulation is aimed at legality "and not punishment and punishment".

Despite the fact that the transitional period has passed, in the north of Kosovo, inhabited by a majority of Serbs, according to the reporters of Radio Free Europe, the Serbian dinar continues to circulate.

Otherwise, in the last round of the dialogue, held on April 25, the chief negotiator of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, said that the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, has presented a new proposal that aims to align positions of the parties regarding the financial assistance from Serbia to the Serbs in Kosovo.

Bislimi did not give concrete details of the proposal, but said that Kosovo and Serbia should give their opinions on it in the next seven days.

"Let's say that today's proposal is more detailed than the last one and better clarifies some of the points and remarks that we had in his initial ideas," Bislimi stated on April 25, adding that the proposal is an effort good to find a solution and that Lajcak's key concern is to address how the people affected by the CBK decision can continue to receive financial assistance from Serbia.

The CBK's decision has angered Serbia, which through its state budget sends financial aid to Serbs living in Kosovo.

The international community has asked Kosovo to suspend the regulation, in order to give citizens time to adapt to the new practice.

However, the Government of Kosovo has insisted that it is an independent decision of the CBK and not a political decision./ REL