Head of the EU Office in Kosovo: Serbian education and healthcare should be resolved through dialogue

2026-03-21 19:13:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Head of the EU Office in Kosovo: Serbian education and healthcare should be

Aivo Orav

The Head of the European Union Office in Kosovo, Aivo Orav, said that the issue of the dissolution of parallel Serbian education and health structures in Kosovo should be addressed in dialogue, but stressed that these are complicated issues.

"Of course we want the education and health structures to survive. They are parallel structures and their status should be addressed in dialogue. Of course, there will be disintegration. I think that day is not near, these are difficult and complicated issues to address," Orav said during a conversation with journalists in Kosovo on the eve of the end of his mandate in Kosovo.

In Serb-majority areas in Kosovo, there are education and health institutions that operate according to the Serbian system. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that plans are for them to be merged into the Kosovo system.

During the conversation with journalists, Orav also spoke about the agreement between Kosovo and the EU regarding the implementation of the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles.

Orav again welcomed the facilities offered by Kosovo to Serbian citizens, but said that there should be no interruption of services for the Serbian community.

He said that these issues should be resolved through dialogue. Speaking about the issue of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, Orav said that this issue is in dialogue and "will not disappear."

He said that the EU has long held the position that the Association's status should be sent to the Constitutional Court, but this has not happened yet and, according to him, such an approach does not help anyone.

Orav emphasized that if the statement of the European envoy for the dialogue, Peter Sorensen, is analyzed in detail, the EU's position is that the Association should be established in cooperation with the Serbian community and within the framework of the dialogue for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations.

"In diplomacy, we have to find ways to address these issues. And now, if you listen to the statement of envoy Sorensen, it should be done, without interruption, with the Serbian community and the EU dialogue. The Brussels dialogue means dialogue. Dialogue also means Association. Even if it comes earlier or later, it has not disappeared, even if it was not articulated so clearly, the Association is there," he said, adding that the Government of Kosovo, Serbia and Sorensen know this.

Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the Association in 2013 and it is also mentioned in the Agreement on the Path to Normalization of Relations, which Kosovo and Serbia accepted in 2023.

In his conversation with journalists, Orav also spoke about the lifting of all punitive measures that the EU had imposed on Kosovo almost three years ago due to tensions in the north.

He said it is the right decision and Kosovo deserves it.

"I don't know of any other country that has had such measures. Even sanctions against Russia are reviewed every six months. What happened with Kosovo was unique, we needed consensus to lift the measures. I have never seen anything like this" like the Kosovo case, he said, adding that he himself has worked in Brussels.

On March 17, the EU confirmed the lifting of all measures. The authorities in Kosovo have consistently described the measures as unfair, as they confidently stated that they had long ago fulfilled the EU's requirements for their lifting: reducing tensions and reducing the police presence near facilities in four municipalities in northern Kosovo.

The measures had significant financial costs for Kosovo, as various projects under the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA II and III), as well as the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), were suspended or postponed. /REL