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Stano: Bislim's behavior towards EU officials is unacceptable

2024-02-22 14:10:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Stano: Bislim's behavior towards EU officials is unacceptable

Peter Stano

The behavior of the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, towards the officials of the European Union (EU), is unacceptable, the spokesperson of the bloc, Peter Stano, declared on Thursday.

"We hope that Mr. Bislimi will appreciate the efforts, instead of unjustly accusing the EU officials. Such behavior is unacceptable," said Stano.

On Wednesday, Bislimi said he rejected an invitation from Brussels to discuss the issue of banning the Serbian dinar in Kosovo and accused the EU's special envoy for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, of violating the principles .

Bislimi said that, by sending this invitation, Lajçak had violated the "principles he set himself", since, according to him, "it is the first time that he has set a meeting without prior agreement with the parties and has tried to determine the agenda despite the principles he has established in 2021, that no topic is placed on the agenda without the agreement of the parties".

Stano confirmed that the EU had invited Kosovo and Serbia to discuss the dinar issue in a meeting that was expected to take place on February 27.

He said the EU special envoy's invitation, however, did not specify who from each side should attend the meeting he invited for February 27.

"Usually, we do not comment on exchanges with our partners. However, the invitation through the letter from the special envoy Lajçak did not specify who should represent Kosovo and who should represent Serbia, this was left to the parties to decide", explained Stano.

He explained that the invitation was made after the parting meetings that the High Representative of the EU, Joseph Borrell, had with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, in Munich, Germany, last week, where the issue was discussed. of the dinar, according to him.

The new regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo - which envisages the euro as the only currency in Kosovo for making cash payments - entered into force on 1 February.

Stano said that the EU is trying to find a solution to the problem created by the "uncoordinated decision of one party, which was not communicated in advance to the population it affects".

He repeated the position that the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo will have a "serious impact" on the Serbian population in Kosovo and other communities, especially those who receive financial assistance from Serbia.

"The EU and the member states were very clear in their reactions to this counterproductive decision and that this issue should be resolved within the framework of dialogue," Stano emphasized.

"The non-constructive behavior on the part of the Kosovo authorities, failure and lack of commitment only distances Kosovo from its European perspective", he warned.

Even before, the European Union has requested that the issue of the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo for operations with cash be discussed within the dialogue for the normalization of relations.

Also, the banking authorities in Serbia have requested that this issue be included in the dialogue in Brussels, not accepting Kosovo's request that they talk directly with the Central Bank of Kosovo about this.

The Serbian state allocates millions of euros to Serbs in Kosovo after paying them - through a parallel system - salaries, pensions and additional assistance.

In certain places in Graçanica, on February 20, Serbian citizens could not receive social assistance and child allowances at the post office, which works according to the Serbian system, because the employees told them that they did not have money to pay these allowances.

Likewise, on February 21, a group of teachers in North Mitrovica protested in front of the Savings Bank of the Post of Serbia, after they did not receive their salaries.

Belgrade has severely criticized the CBK regulation, interpreting it as the goal of the Government of Kosovo to deport Serbs.

The CBK regulation has also been criticized by the international community, which has said that the decision was taken without prior consultation and without considering the impact on the Serbian community.

The United States has requested that Kosovo postpone the implementation of the decision, arguing that the non-fulfillment of this request has already affected the quality of relations between Washington and Pristina.

CBK has said that the decision will be implemented through a transitional phase of no longer than three months./REL