The European Union has reminded Kosovo that the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities is an obligation still unfulfilled, as a promise that emerged from the 2013 agreement, and that since then Kosovo has not taken the steps to establish it. KOHA has addressed questions on the insistence to accept the EU’s draft statute for the Association.
Asked further why Kosovo does not have the opportunity to present its draft statute, the spokesperson of the EU for Foreign Policy and Security, Nabila Massrali, said that the statute must be drafted and discussed in dialogue, and that this means that ” every proposal must be discussed with Serbia and the EU as mediators and be in accordance with the agreements of 2013-2015″.
Massrali has further clarified that in October 2023, the EU, supported by partners such as the USA, presented the European draft statute for the Association based “on the best European models and practices”, which both sides accepted in principle. . Meanwhile, he mentioned that when the Council of Europe in December 2023 supported the draft statute for which Kosovo and Serbia had presented readiness, it was “official recognition of the document by the 27 EU member states”.
“We call on Kosovo to move forward with the establishment of the Association in accordance with the EU draft statute, without further delays. The EU recalls that the Agreement on the normalization path is valid and legally binding in its entirety for both Kosovo and Serbia. “Serbia is expected to fulfill its obligations derived from the Agreement on the normalization path, in parallel with Kosovo to move forward with the establishment of the Association based on the European draft statute, in accordance with the implementation plan proposed by the EU,” said Massrali.