Discussions in Brussels regarding the lifting of punitive measures against Kosovo

2024-06-19 18:12:01, Kosova & Bota CNA

Discussions in Brussels regarding the lifting of punitive measures against

Photo taken from Reuters

The representatives of the member countries of the European Union are discussing the possibility of removing the punitive measures against Kosovo imposed a year ago due to the developments in the north of Kosovo inhabited by a majority of Serbs.

The discussion is based on the report of the Head of Foreign Policy of the European Union Josef Borrell regarding the fulfillment of the conditions for lifting the measures and sources in Brussels said that the report proposes their lifting.

Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi said today that the government hopes that no country will oppose the lifting of the measures.

"There are two or three countries that have preferred the gradual lifting of the measures in two steps, but there are not those that have been against the lifting of the measures, but the absolute majority of countries believe that the imposition of measures on Kosovo was unfair , not imposing measures against Serbia was the additional injustice done to Kosovo", he said.

It is now a year since the Kosovo government faced punitive measures from the European Union due to tensions in the north, where the sending of Albanian mayors to their offices at the end of May last year was strongly opposed by groups of Serbian citizens who clashed with the Kosovo police and NATO peacekeeping forces, injuring over 90 members of KFOR.

The European Union had requested the extension of the situation in the north, the removal of special police units from the municipal buildings and the organization of new elections for mayors of the municipalities inhabited by Serb majority in the north of Kosovo.

Since that time the situation in the north of the country has been permeated with tensions and the international authorities are calling on the parties to avoid actions that could further strain the situation and to work for the implementation of the agreement for the normalization of relations between them.

The envoy of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia talks, Miroslav Lajcak, will meet today in Belgrade with the Serbian leaders, a day after staying in Pristina, where he said that his visit is about the new way of focusing on the process of normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia and what concrete steps will the parties take to speed up the implementation of the agreement.

In March of this year, it was one year since Kosovo and Serbia agreed on an agreement for the normalization of relations, but its implementation has not yet begun.

European officials have conditioned European integration and other integration processes for both countries on the implementation of the agreement

In April, the Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the European Union approved the changes in chapter 35 of Serbia's membership negotiations, making part of it the obligations arising from the agreement on the normalization of relations with Kosovo that was reached last year in Brussels and in Ohrid.

Kosovo failed to join the Council of Europe in May after the authorities did not accept the requests of the main European countries to send the draft statute for the establishment of the Association for consideration by the Constitutional Court./ VOA