The first high-level meeting for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue was held on Tuesday, after the Ohrid agreement that was reached on March 18.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandër Vucic, participated in this meeting with the mediation of the head of European diplomacy, Josef Borrell and the envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.
The main topic in this meeting, apart from the agreement on the statement on the missing, was the presentation of the draft statute for the association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, which was categorically rejected by the Kosovo’s side.
Both the leaders of the Kosovo state and the opposition reacted to this meeting.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, said that they were not surprised by what was presented there, as it came from people from Serbia, also that he does not expect a quick agreement between the two countries.
“I do not expect at all that there will be a quick agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and this cannot happen precisely because of the political direction that Serbia has today, it is completely within the political coordinates of the fascist nationalism that Serbia has had at the time of Milosevic since the 90s. There is no remorse for the crimes she committed in Kosovo. I don’t expect any rapprochement of these positions, we will continue in this direction to protect the interests of Kosovo. Without Serbia changing, it does not seem to me that there can be an agreement in a short period of time”, said Konjufca.
On the other hand, according to the largest opposition party, Kurti has accepted the draft for the association.
While, Ramush Haradinaj, from Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, requested the intervention of the USA in this matter.
There were also reactions from the office of President Vjosa Osmani. The head of her cabinet wrote on Twitter that the proposed draft statute is unacceptable.
“The Management Team of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority submitted the version of the statute of Serbia, which is very similar to the statute of Vojvodina. “Serbia’s goal is to reconstitute its autonomous authority in Kosovo, with the aim that Kosovo’s institutions remain invalid, as happened in Vojvodina”, said Blerim Vela, the chief of staff of the president of Kosovo.
The Serbian chief negotiator also reacted after the dismissal of the management team.
“Now I think it is clear to everyone that Kurti will not form the Association and that he will avoid this important obligation in any way. Albin Kurti must urgently be stopped from the EU, because the dismissal of the Management Team leads to the abolition of the Association and, the abolition of the dialogue”, Petar Petkovic, Serbia’s chief negotiator.
The dismissal of the management team happened a day after he presented the association’s draft statute. The news was announced by the Minister of Local Government in the Government of Kosovo, Elbert Krasniqi.
