Hovenier and Szunyog ask Kosovo to implement the dialogue agreements, if it wants membership in the EU and NATO

2024-03-04 20:04:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hovenier and Szunyog ask Kosovo to implement the dialogue agreements, if it

The American ambassador in Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, and the head of the European Union (EU) Office in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog, have called on Kosovo to fulfill the agreements reached in the dialogue with Serbia, if it wants to join the EU and NATO. .

Speaking at a conference in Pristina with the title: "Parliamentary Diplomacy for Regional Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration", Hovenier said that Kosovo can move forward on the European path only through dialogue.

"The international community wants Kosovo to progress on the European path, we have created the conditions to achieve this, and the only way is through dialogue mediated by the EU... We hope to see efforts to move forward", said Hovenier.

With the mediation of the EU, Kosovo and Serbia reached the Agreement for the normalization of relations on February 27, 2023.

The agreement on normalization, of 11 articles, provides, among other things, a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while it asks Prishtina and Belgrade to also implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue.

The EU has said that the agreement, which although not signed is binding on the parties, has not yet started to be implemented.

The international community insistently asks Kosovo to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, but the Government of Kosovo has expressed its fear that such a mono-ethnic association could damage the functionality of the Kosovo state.

Hovenier insisted, however, that nothing prevents the implementation of the Agreement for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

"The international community and partners would treat Kosovo differently than now, if they were implementing these obligations, if they were approving the draft statute for the Association that is not in conflict with the constitution, and if they were moving towards the decision of the Constitutional Court for the Monastery of Deçan", emphasized Hovenier.

The head of the EU office in Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog, shared the same opinion with the American ambassador, who also took an example for this.

"I remember 1997 when Richard Holbrook said in Prague, if you want to be in NATO, then choose bilateral relations with Germany, the agreement between the Czech Republic and Germany was signed in 1998, Vaslav Havel succeeded and they became members in 1999", he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Donika Gërvalla, has blamed the Serbian side for stalling the dialogue.

"Dialogue means two [parties], it is not a monologue, if we wanted to make decisions regarding our citizens in Kosovo, then we should be able to take responsibility, but our partners and friends do not stop us by explaining that we must we engage and in the dialogue you must have two sides", said Gërvalla.

According to Gërvalla, it is "impossible" to hold talks with a state that is preparing for war.

"When you have a party that is against dialogue and shows concrete actions like the event of September 24 when we had an act of attack against the Republic of Kosovo and we claim that we have dialogue in Brussels, then every student will understand that this is not what is taught in school for this process", she said.

She was referring to an attack by a group of armed Serbs against the Kosovo Police on September 24 last year in the village of Banjské in Zveçan in the north of Kosovo, where a police sergeant and three attackers were killed.

The responsibility for this attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, the former vice-president of Lista Serbe - the main party of Serbs in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of official Belgrade.

Kosovo blamed Serbia for the attack, which denied any involvement, but has since released Radoicic on the condition that he not travel to Kosovo./ Rel