Kurti: We will not accept anything that contradicts the CBK regulation

2024-03-19 12:37:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kurti: We will not accept anything that contradicts the CBK regulation

Albin Kurti

All the problems that Serbian citizens may have regarding the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which prohibits the use of the Serbian dinar, the Government of Kosovo will quickly address, says the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, in an interview for Radio Free Europe.

Kurti says that he expects concrete things from today's meeting of the chief negotiators in Brussels.

However, he emphasizes that there have always been different options for the issue of the dinar.

Kurti did not want to talk about the possible proposals for solving the case, since, according to him, Kosovo's negotiating position is damaged if they are revealed prematurely.

He, however, says that this is an ongoing process, "but there are no proposals that are accepted by us that are contrary to the new CBK regulation".

Radio Free Europe: Mr. Prime Minister, meetings at the level of chief negotiators are taking place in Brussels. It has been warned that the dinar issue will be discussed. Meanwhile, the president of Kosovo warned yesterday [March 18] that there is an agreement for part of the American proposal. Can you tell us what it's about?

Albin Kurti: Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, as the chief negotiator of the Republic of Kosovo, is in Brussels and is holding talks there, in which case I do not know if there will be a trilateral meeting or only two bilateral meetings with the European mediator and the special emissary [of the EU, Miroslav] Lajcak. I believe he should let us know exactly what topics were discussed and what conclusions might have been reached.

But, I have to say that this is not a matter of the dinar, it is a matter of the Central Bank of Kosovo, an independent institution of our Republic. So, it is not a question of having a dinar or not, but whether the CBK should be an independent institution or not. I believe that it should be and this is our constitutional and legal obligation. The dinar has not been banned in Kosovo, but the Constitution in its 11th article states that there can be only one currency as a means of payment and this must be the euro.

In the meantime, we will quickly address all the problems that Serbian citizens may have. Again, the Central Bank of Kosovo, which takes the lead in this process - since its new regulation of December 27 is an independent decision of the Central Bank - it addresses with them the ten steps that it has foreseen in a plan with a quarterly transitional phase.

Now, it will be three months on March 27th, and I believe that all those who predicted the apocalypse on February 1st, it did not happen on February 1st, nor on March 1st, and it will not happen on April 1st either.

Radio Free Europe: What do you think the president [of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani] was talking about when she said that there is agreement in what was said by the Americans?

Albin Kurti: Now, I have the chief negotiator there and I believe that he will discuss within the framework of the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, where we are, [with] what we can move forward. But, I also take responsibility that certain consequences, which may be caused on the ground, may be a matter for the Government. Not the decision as such, which is sovereign of the Central Bank of Kosovo, but once again, we only implement the law and the Constitution on the ground. If there are certain consequences that are referred to our ministers on the dinar issue. But I believe that this round of meetings should end so that we can talk precisely.

Radio Free Europe: Do you expect that there will be anything concrete today?

Albin Kurti: I always expect that there will be something concrete.

Radio Free Europe: What?

Albin Kurti: I expect that there will be in terms of the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia because the meetings, both at the level of the chief negotiators and at the high level that take place in Brussels, take place precisely for this purpose.

Radio Free Europe: I want to go back to what I said earlier. The president has said that there is some kind of agreement on this. Have you consulted the president?

Albin Kurti: There have always been different options for the dinar issue. I do not believe that they should be discussed now, because Kosovo's negotiating position is damaged if they are revealed before time. What I can say is that the Government is doing the best possible, with maximum commitment and of course we have this as support for the new regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo. There is no punishment for the Serbs. So, the new regulation is not a punishment, but it is the next very serious attempt to formalize and legalize financial transactions.

You know that we have allocated a budget for the Albanians in Presheva, Medvegja and Bujanoc. We send the financial aid there in euros, while it is received in dinars in the banks there. It could be the same here. So, the remittance that comes in dinars could be received in euros./REL