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Kurti: The draft statute for the Association breaks the legacy of not recognizing Kosovo

2023-11-03 12:51:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kurti: The draft statute for the Association breaks the legacy of not

Albin Kurti

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said before the deputies of the Assembly that the draft statute for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, presented by international diplomats, has clarity regarding the recognition of Kosovo.

"First, in my political assessment, the draft interrupts the legacy of non-recognition of the Republic of Kosovo that was enshrined in the agreements of 2013 and 2015. So, in my political judgment, the draft has a clarity regarding the recognition of the Republic of Kosovo, as a an independent state in which the Serbs will live in accordance with the multi-ethnic aspirations of the Constitution and without any other harmful and undermining purpose for the Republic in recognition of the sovereign state and our territorial integrity", said Kurti.

According to him, this clarity does not represent "Zajednica" (vj which means Association in the Serbian language) foreseen in the agreements of 2013 and 2015, because "Association would be indisputable".

He, however, said that he has not yet officially accepted the draft statute. "Accepting it means agreeing to undertake obligations to implement the draft," he said, adding that he had offered to sign it and "therefore I accept it."

Kurti said that the draft statute has been carefully written to the letter of the Constitution, rather than its spirit. However, he said that the draft envisages that this document will go to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo for review.

At the request of the opposition parties, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is reporting to the Assembly on the draft statute proposed by the internationals for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo and on the recent meetings in Brussels.

The Kosovar Prime Minister declared before the deputies that he cannot provide details of the draft statute, but can only give his political position.

"Secondly, the draft in my political assessment made it clear that the mechanism that will be established will have a coordinating and cooperative character. So, I will not prejudge nor interfere in the powers of municipalities, central bodies and so on", said Kurti.

"Thirdly, the draft closes the space used by Serbia for the Serbs in Kosovo to project a future outside the borders of Kosovo or in ignorance of the borders of Kosovo and consequently they live with the feeling imposed by Belgrade for a new war for the territory, or territorial exchange or union for anyone else. So the draft makes it clear that the country is the Republic of Kosovo and the future is coexistence in the institutions and borders of the Republic of Kosovo. This means that Serbia would have to give up the premise that the Serbs in Kosovo live in Serbia or that the Serbs in Kosovo may have territorial secession aspirations or autonomy outside the Republic of Kosovo, outside the laws and the constitution of Kosovo," he added.

According to Kurt, any change in the Association's statute will be made after the Ministry of Local Government Administration of Kosovo has been accepted, after the Constitutional Court has issued a permissive ruling.

"This overturns what the 2013 and 2015 agreements built, namely the assumption they created that participants in an association will be free to advance it in an unknown direction. Such an unknown direction no longer exists and now the direction is clear and known and that is the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kosovo, overstepping, advancement and overstepping are not allowed and cannot happen", said Kurti.

After meetings with European and European Union leaders in Brussels on October 26, Kurti stated that he has accepted the proposal for the Association's draft statute and was ready to sign an agreement for the normalization of relations with Serbia, but this was opposed by the Serbian president, Aleksandar Calf.

Kosovo and Serbia have reached agreement on the Association in 2013 and then in 2015 on the principles for its establishment.

In 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo found that the agreement is not in full harmony with the highest legal act of the state.

Kosovo has so far refused to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, expressing the fear that it could affect the functionality of the state. Serbia, meanwhile, insists on its establishment.

The EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, said that the draft statute for the Association does not violate the "red lines" of the parties, adding that this is not the only element that must be implemented, since Serbia has not implemented articles of the Agreement towards the normalization of relations.

Kosovo and Serbia reached this agreement earlier in the year. The agreement, of 11 articles, foresees, among other things, a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of the state symbols, while asking Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous dialogue agreements.

The leaders of France, Germany and Italy - with whom Kurti and Vu?i? met separately in Brussels on October 26 - have requested that Serbia de facto recognize Kosovo and Kosovo form the Association. /REL