Hovenier: We were not informed in advance about the CBK regulation

2024-02-06 22:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The American ambassador in Pristina, Jeff Hovenier, said that despite the decision on the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo on the use of only the euro currency for payments in Kosovo, it was made on December 27, 2023, but was announced in January of this year, Washington has not been informed in advance about it.

In an interview with RTV 21, Hovenier said that if they were aware of the adoption of this regulation - which prohibits the use of the Serbian dinar for payments - Washington would be ready to discuss with the Government of Kosovo the challenges of a decision of such.

"If the Government was concerned about armored vehicles bringing in large sums of cash and wanted to find alternative ways of doing it that would be less vulnerable, we would very much like to have a conversation. on those issues. I don't believe there were such talks," said Hovenier.

The American diplomat reiterated that the US does not contest the authority of the Kosovo executive nor that of the CBK, but reiterated that "we are concerned because of the way Kosovo intends to implement what we think is not responsive or does not take into account the impact that will have on the vulnerable community".

Serbia pays Kosovo Serbs - through a parallel system - salaries, pensions, social benefits, and other benefits.

Hovenier reiterated that the US request to the Government of Kosovo is clear: "postpone the implementation of the decision until a good strategy is established to mitigate the effects on the vulnerable population, and I am talking, among others, about the ethnic population in Kosovo and a good public information plan".

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, on February 6 admitted that the communication of the decision was not clear, but he promised that during a period of transition the authorities will provide information about this regulation.

Ambassador Hovenier again warned that there could be consequences "in the quality of the partnership" between the USA and Kosovo, if the latter does not listen to Washington's demands, but he did not specify what the consequences are.

Asked if the recent American criticism could have consequences on the request that Kosovo made earlier to buy weapons from the US, Hovenier said that the US supports the Kosovo Security Force in terms of treatment and equipment. However, he emphasized that cooperation in this depends on how strong the partnership between Pristina and Washington is.

"I expect the Government of Kosovo to work with us to improve and strengthen our partnership", said Hovenier.

The American ambassador also said that his country wants Kosovo's society to maintain its multi-ethnic character and expects the Government in Pristina to provide security and dignified living conditions for all communities, regardless of their ethnicity.

Meanwhile, speaking about the issue of the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, Hovenier said that Kosovo must implement its part of the Basic Agreement on the path to the normalization of relations and the Annex of the implementation of this agreement - reached last year by Kosovo and Serbia within the dialogue mediated by the European Union - emphasizing that Kosovo has the responsibility to establish this association.

Asked if there could be new consequences for Kosovo if it does not establish the Association, Hovenier said:

"We will make those decisions when we get there. But it is not wrong to say that we are concerned and we would like to see greater responsiveness to our requests than what we are seeing at this time".

The agreement on the road to the normalization of relations, among other things, obliges Kosovo to establish the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, which would allow the Serbs in Kosovo a certain level of self-management.

Previously, the parties had reached an agreement in 2013 for the establishment of the Association, but that agreement has not yet been implemented./ REL