The European Union said that it remains in the position expressed earlier that in Kosovo it supports only a single institutional and administrative structure, according to the legal framework of Kosovo.
But, at the same time, the bloc stated that the issue of institutions supported by Serbia should be resolved through the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.
This is what the EU spokesperson, Peter Stano, said when asked by Radio Free Europe what is the EU’s position regarding the structures of Serbia in the territory of Kosovo.
“All past dialogue agreements are fully harmonized with the principle of a single institutional and administrative structure, and they follow the legal and institutional framework of Kosovo, as confirmed by the conclusions of the European Council”, said Stano in the reply sent to Radio Free Europe.
The issue of Serbian institutions in Kosovo was raised during the last meeting of the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels on April 25, when the issue of the Serbian dinar was discussed. During the meeting, the Serbian side requested that all Serbian institutions, which Kosovo considers illegal, continue to be financed by Belgrade until the Association is established.
According to Stano’s clarification, the status of the structures supported by Serbia is expected to be resolved within the dialogue, namely through the establishment of the Association.
He called on Kosovo to move towards the establishment of the Association without delay in accordance with the draft statute proposed by the EU last year.
Kosovo and Serbia have reached two agreements on the Association, in 2013 and 2015. However, Kosovo has not yet taken steps towards its establishment.
Also, the EU has asked both sides to refrain from any unilateral action on the ground that does not contribute to the creation of a favorable environment for talks on the normalization of relations and that Kosovo and Serbia commit to resolve all outstanding issues in the dialogue mediated by the bloc.
In the last meeting within the framework of the dialogue held in Brussels, the parties received from the mediator of the dialogue Miroslav Lajčak, a compromise proposal for enabling payments from Serbia to the beneficiaries in the territory of Kosovo, and it is expected that by the next meeting, the parties will express themselves on that proposal.
Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, declared after the meeting that Belgrade intends to continue financing all parallel structures in Kosovo, without indicating what they are.
He said that Lajcak’s proposal aims to align the positions of the parties regarding the issue of financial assistance from Serbia to the Serbs in Kosovo.
“The position of the Serbian side is that all illegal structures in Serbia should be financed, continue to be financed until the time when the Association [of municipalities with a Serbian majority] is created, because according to their opinion, the goal of the Association is not to ensure good coordination between municipalities, but to ensure the legitimacy of the presence of Serbian institutions in Kosovo, which would make them semi-Serbian institutions, but not institutions of Serbs in Kosovo” , Bislimi said after the meeting in Brussels.
He added that this idea of Serbia did not find the understanding of either Kosovo or the mediator of the dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak.
On the other hand, in the EU they continue to distinguish between “Serbian structures” and structures “supported by Serbia”, repeating that there should be only one unique institutional structure in Kosovo.
But, at the same time, it should be possible to finance the structures that until now have had financial support from Serbia. Brussels only requires that this be ensured through a short-term solution within the dialogue to overcome the obstacles that have been presented after the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which allows only the euro currency to be used for making payments.
