Senator Murphy: Kosovo and Serbia should implement the agreement on the normalization of relations as soon as possible

2023-05-22 20:21:05, Kosova & Bota CNA

Senator Murphy: Kosovo and Serbia should implement the agreement on the

American Senator Chris Murphy said on Monday that it is important that the commitments made in the framework of the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia be realized as soon as possible by both sides.

He made these comments in Pristina where, together with Senator Gary Peters, they held meetings with the leaders of Kosovo's institutions.

Democratic American senators are staying in Pristina as part of a visit to the Western Balkans region.

After the meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, Senator Murphy said that the implementation of the agreement involves difficult choices for both parties.

"Serbia will have to stop preventing Kosovo from joining international organizations and we believe it makes sense to allow municipalities with a Serbian majority to have some ability to coordinate the services they provide. But time is of the essence. This is a year to make this happen and to be able to move towards a path of normalization leading to mutual recognition and we are happy to hear about your plans to implement this agreement as soon as possible and we we are also willing to persevere in that effort," said Senator Murphy.

Senator Gary Peters said that "there should be some certainty about what is happening with Serbia. We are encouraged by the agreement that has been reached and now implementation is the key factor to move forward and we talked about it at length."

American senators said they welcome the latest agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, which according to them includes mutual recognition of official documents.

The leaders of Kosovo, President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that Kosovo will implement every obligation it has agreed to as part of the dialogue with Serbia.

"As you know, municipalities in the Republic of Kosovo have the right to meet in Associations to coordinate their work, but all this in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the decision of the Constitutional Court of 2015, as well as in accordance with the position of written by the US government published by two officials of the US Department of State, Derek Chollet and Gabriel Escobar", said President Osmani.

"They constitute advancement in the relations between the two countries and are a platform and opportunity for their complete normalization, therefore we need full, fast and unconditional implementation", said Prime Minister Kurti.

The establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is a request often emphasized recently by Western diplomats, but also by Belgrade, which conditions the return of local Serbs to the institutions of Kosovo that they abandoned at the end of last year, but also with the implementation of the Ohrid agreement.

The authorities in Kosovo say that the requirements that the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority be a prerequisite for the implementation of other points of the agreement on the normalization of relations with Serbia, damage the process of talks between both parties./ voa