EU on Kurti's statements: We do not comment on baseless accusations

2023-09-19 14:44:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, described as "baseless accusations" the statements of the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, about the EU envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, stressing that the latter has the support of all countries member of the bloc.

On September 18, Kurti declared in Pristina that during the last dialogue meeting between Kosovo and Serbia - held in Brussels on September 14 - Lajcak was "positioned" against Kosovo.

The Kosovar Prime Minister said that during this meeting - which ended without a result - there seemed to be a coordination between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and Lajcak for, as he said, the creation of an "alternative scenario, where half of the agreement is implemented".

Kurti said that Lajçak "deformed" the dialogue process, claiming that he did not focus on the full and unconditional implementation of the Agreement towards normalization, but allowed "to put the cart before the horse, the Association of Municipalities once, and then see".

The agreement that Kurti referred to was reached earlier this year. It does not include the mutual recognition that Kosovo insists on, but requires Kosovo and Serbia to accept each other's documents and symbols, including: passports, diplomas and license plates. The parties also promise to implement the agreements reached earlier in the dialogue process.

Stano was asked by journalists how the dialogue can continue in this format since Kurti has openly expressed distrust towards the facilitator of the process, whom he did not consider neutral and impartial.

"As for Kurti's statements, we do not comment on them, especially when they contain baseless accusations. I think that the EU member states have consistently reiterated very clearly their full support for the EU Special Representative, Miroslav Lajcak, as well as for the High Representative [Josep Borrell]. They fully support their efforts to help Kosovo and Serbia reach the stage when they normalize relations between them", he said.

According to Stanos, the latest support for the dialogue facilitators, Borrell and Lajcak, came through the communique issued on behalf of the 27 countries of the bloc on September 19.

"This means that it is a statement approved by the foreign ministers of 27 member states. And this statement exactly underlines the expectations of the EU for Kosovo and Serbia and how to move forward in the dialogue", said Stano, emphasizing that the statement "explicitly requires Kosovo and Serbia to proceed with the implementation of their obligations without delay News".

In this statement, which was issued after Borrell met in New York with the top European diplomats, the EU also demanded the establishment without delay of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.

For the Association, Kosovo and Serbia have reached an agreement in 2013. However, Prishtina has not implemented it, expressing the fear that it could affect the functionality of the state.

Otherwise, after the meeting on September 14, the European Union said that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, was not ready to move forward, unlike the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu?i?, who "accepted their proposal" for the implementation of the Basic Agreement for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations.

The head of the EU's foreign policy, Josep Borrell, stated that Kurti insisted on formalizing, first, the de facto recognition of Kosovo by Serbia.

Kurti in Brussels said that "Serbia's conditionality" for the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority "has turned into the position of EU emissaries".

According to Vucic, Kurt simply "avoided the formation of the Association... this is the essence of everything"./ Rel