During this week, the European Union has warned that it will communicate the punitive measures against Kosovo, which the bloc has prepared due to the failure to take the steps that have been requested to reduce tensions in the north of the country, said the European Commission’s general director for enlargement, Jan Koopman.
He, together with the envoy of the European bloc for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, participated in the debate in the Committee for Foreign Policy of the European Parliament, writes REL.
Koopman said that a number of measures are being prepared for Kosovo. He mentioned the suspension of the work of all working groups for the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), the suspension of financing of EU programs, the disapproval of projects from the Investment Fund in the Western Balkans, as well as the suspension of meetings at political levels.
He said that these measures “were not taken lightly” and that they are reversible if the right steps are taken to alleviate the situation.
During this debate, Lajcak explained to the MEPs the concrete steps that the EU has proposed to Kosovo and Serbia to reduce tensions in the north of Kosovo.
In this debate, most of MEPs have criticized the EU’s approach. According to them, only Kosovo is being reprimanded and measures are being taken against it, while no concrete measures have been mentioned for Serbia.
The members of the EP asked to specify the measures against Serbia as well, but neither Lajcak nor Koopman have answered this question. The two European officials, however, repeated several times that “concrete actions and steps are required from both sides”.
Lajcak expressed his willingness to share details with the European deputies about the steps that have been requested from the parties to escalate the situation.
As a first step, he mentioned the withdrawal of the new mayors of the municipalities in the north and the special units of the Kosovo Police from the municipal buildings, in parallel with the withdrawal of the protesters. The second step, according to him, is to unblock the entry of trucks with goods from Serbia to Kosovo, reduce the level of readiness and withdraw the military forces of Serbia from the vicinity of the border with Kosovo and not send them to that area.
He also said that those responsible for the violence in the north should be brought to justice and the EU mission in Kosovo for Rule of Law (EULEX) should monitor the processes against them.
Lajcak also mentioned the bloc’s request that new elections be announced in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo inhabited by a majority of Serbs and that Lista Serbe – the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo – publicly declare that it will participate in the process election.
He said that they are working on two options for announcing the elections. The first option, according to him, is easier and has to do with the possibility of the resignation of the new mayors of the municipalities in the north. The other option, according to Lajçak, is politically more suitable since the removal of the mayors would be done through a request signed by the citizens.
Lajcak responded to the criticism of Belgrade’s partiality and “pampering” by saying that he carries out his mandate “impartially” and that “I am criticized by both sides”.
“I am quite direct in meetings with them. But public blame would be a path to destroy the dialogue,” said Lajcak, responding to the criticism of MEPs that he has been soft with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic.
