Power: Kosovo and Serbia to intensify efforts to normalize relations

2023-05-13 09:56:22, Kosova & Bota CNA

The administrator of the American Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, has encouraged Kosovo and Serbia to intensify efforts to accelerate the path towards normalization of relations.

During a press conference in Pristina on May 13, after the meeting with the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, the American official said that the citizens of both countries would benefit from the normalization of relations.

"Establishing the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority will also help the normalization of relations and thus economic and business development", said Power.

Power said that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which is mediated by the European Union and supported by the USA, is the right path that both countries should follow. She said that Washington will continue to support Kosovo in this process, as the agency she leads, USAID, will also continue to invest in Kosovo.

Power stayed in Kosovo for two days and met with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, with whom he also discussed the dialogue with Serbia.

After the meeting with Kurti, she stated that the US is focused on the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, which aims to lead the parties towards normalization, stressing that Washington's position has always been that this process should result in mutual recognition.

Kosovo and Serbia on February 27 in Brussels reached the Agreement towards the normalization of relations, while on March 18 in Ohrid they reached the Annex for the implementation of this agreement.

The agreement does not specifically mention mutual recognition, but the 11-article document requires both countries to accept each other's documents and symbols, including: passports, diplomas and license plates.

Also, the Ohrid Agreement requires the parties to implement all the agreements reached so far in the dialogue for the normalization of relations, including the one for the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, which the Government in Pristina has rejected until now. now, on the grounds that it may jeopardize the functionality of the state./ REL