The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia could not agree

The Kosovar Prime Minister, Kurti, and the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, who met in Brussels under the mediation of the High Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, made statements to the press after the meeting.

Noting that the desire to establish a Republika Srpska in Kosovo can be seen in article 67 of the draft proposed by the 4-member Kosovar Serb management team, Kurti said: “At the meeting, we listened patiently and attentively to the leadership . team, who presented a draft regulation with a total of 67 articles, and that draft is what we heard and expressed our opinion that what we read is fundamentally against the constitution of Kosovo, the law, human rights, the European values, minority rights according to European standards, but that we will nonetheless be interested in finding a solution.” he used the phrases.

Kurti emphasized that the statute of the Union of Serb Municipalities, adopted in Brussels in 2013, failed Kosovo’s constitutional test.

Emphasizing that he believed that the draft he prepared on the problems of the communities in Kosovo would be taken seriously by the mediators at the meeting, Kurti said: “I proposed a draft vision of what the values ​​and principles should be like and what the frame. be to regulate the problem of non-majority communities, namely the Serb community in Kosovo”. he said.

“IT WAS THE RIGHT MODEL THAT I WAS INSPIRED BY”

Kurti said that the draft vision he proposed was inspired by an agreement between Serbia and Croatia to normalize relations with Croatia.

“This agreement establishes the rights and provisions for the protection of the Serb minority in Croatia. I was inspired by that model. Croatia became an independent state after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. We are part of the same dissolution process. Considering that Croatia is a member of the EU and NATO and is normalizing its relations with Serbia, we aspire in this direction. It was the right model that inspired me to write the draft of the vision.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic also stated that it was not an easy meeting, saying: “I am very concerned about the key issue of the establishment of the Union of Serb Municipalities, because it is very clear that Kosovo does not want to fulfill its responsibilities. We’re at a standstill, it’s obvious.” He said.

Noting that they will continue to work for the preservation of peace and stability, Vucic said: “I hope the talks will continue. I think we’ll get some answers in the next term, but today we hit a wall.” he performed the assessment of it.

Vucic said that an agreement could not be reached on the Union of Serbian Municipalities and that the meeting ended in this way.

SERBIA-KOSOVO RELATIONS

Serbia considers Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, as its territory.

Serbia and Kosovo, which clash periodically, are trying to find a common path for the normalization of relations and eventually for the two countries to get to know each other, within the framework of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Process started in 2011 under the mediation of the EU .

On March 18, at EU-mediated negotiations in Ohrid, North Macedonia, which lasted around 12 hours, an agreement was reached that would normalize relations between the two countries.

The agreement on the establishment of the Union of Serb Municipalities in the municipalities where Serbs mostly live in Kosovo was signed between Kosovo and Serbia in 2013 under the mediation of the EU, but could not be put into practice. (AA)