Stano: Kosovo's actions are uncoordinated and unilateral

2024-02-05 15:01:50, Kosova & Bota CNA

The European Union clarified today that the reactions over the weekend to some developments in Kosovo were aimed at avoiding tensions after some actions of the Kosovo authorities that the EU called "one-sided and disturbing".

Peter Stano, EU spokesman for foreign policy and security issues, said this on Monday at a press conference.

"Throughout the past week, we have seen at least two examples of actions that have provoked the concern of the European Union. One was the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo and the other was the police operations against some entities led by Serbia. These steps are worrying because they do not contribute to the escalation of the situation", said Stano.

With the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo to use only the euro for payments, the use of the Serbian dinar has been removed from February 1. This decision of Kosovo was opposed by Serbia, while the international community requested the postponement of its implementation on the grounds that there is concern that it may have a negative impact on the Serbs of Kosovo.

Also, on February 2, in a police action, the Kosovar authorities closed three municipalities in Pejë, Istog and Klinë, which operated in parallel in the Serbian system.

Stano emphasized that, "those actions are usually not coordinated, they are unilateral and without the appropriate level of prior consultation to avoid the negative impact they may have on the people on the ground." Therefore, the European Union reacted to both these developments".

According to the EU spokesperson, these statements were reinforced by other international partners as well as by the European Commission.

"Of course, it is worrying when we see that a series of unilateral steps can lead to something that we would not like to see - the worsening of the situation on the ground. Because, one thing is clear, those actions do not contribute to calming the situation and helping people feel that their lives are getting better. Quite the opposite. Therefore, it is important to return to the dialogue", he said.

Answering questions about whether quick meetings are planned within the dialogue, the EU spokesperson said that work is being done in that direction, but there is no set date.

"The EU Special Representative, Miroslav Lajcak, is working with partners from both sides in the region and in the EU, as well as with the wider international community, in order to enable both sides to start behaving in a manner constructively, to return to the negotiating table and discuss important issues without unilateral steps", Stano said.

"I am not able to announce any date of any next meeting. The special representative is working at a daily pace and we hope that at some point we will be able to arrange a high-level meeting of the president from Serbia and the prime minister from Kosovo, where we would try to help them to solve the issues", he said, but he repeated that "for now there is no specific time frame".

"We call on the Kosovo authorities to engage in the consultation process and avoid other unilateral steps because those steps really have a counterproductive effect," said Stano.

During the weekend, the European Union issued a statement asking Kosovo to resolve the issue of the status of the municipalities that Serbia continues to administer through dialogue./ REL