The Government of Kosovo announced that it has agreed to reduce police presence in the north and support the holding of new elections in the four northern municipalities as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation.
According to the Kosovo Government, all steps “will be finalized within a two-week period”.
This agreement was reached during an informal meeting held in Bratislava between Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi and the EU Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák.
According to the Government’s announcement, the police presence in and around municipal buildings in the north will be immediately reduced by 25 percent.
Additionally, Kosovo and the EU have also agreed to take several other steps.
“The Government of Kosovo, through a public statement, supports the holding of new elections in the four municipalities in the north of the country, both before and after the summer,” the Government said, adding that the institutions in Pristina are committed to ensuring the necessary legal basis for organizing these elections.
Furthermore, the Kosovo Police, together with the EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) and the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR), will assess the security situation “particularly to consider the possibility of further reducing the police presence in and around municipal buildings”, the executive announced.
“The EU will invite the two chief negotiators to Brussels with the aim of finalizing the sequencing plan for the Agreement on Normalization, after which the implementation of all agreement provisions will commence,” said the Government of Kosovo.
“This includes an immediate reduction of police presence in and around municipal buildings, regular joint security assessments with EULEX and KFOR as needed, consideration of the possibility of further reducing the presence and avoiding any moves that may escalate the situation and encourage extraordinary elections, as well as the creation of a legal basis for them,” the EU has confirmed.
Regarding the meeting between the negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia, it will reportedly take place next week.
The European Union had presented several requests for reducing tensions in the north, which began in late May after newly elected Albanian mayors entered municipal buildings under the escort of the Kosovo Police.
Since then, local Serbs have been protesting in the north, demanding the withdrawal of special police units from the north in addition to the mayors.
Earlier, state leaders in Kosovo expressed readiness to organize new elections in the municipalities in the north but requested their preparation to prevent boycotts.
The elections held on 23 April, which resulted in the election of Albanian mayors in the four northern municipalities, were boycotted by Serbian parties and population.
Kosovo has continuously requested the implementation of the Agreement on the Normalization of Relations, reached in Brussels on 27 February. The parties also reached an Annex for the implementation of this agreement in Ohrid on 18 March.
The 11-point agreement does not include mutual recognition, which Kosovo insists on, but requires Kosovo and Serbia to accept each other’s documents and symbols, including passports, diplomas, and license plates.
The document requires parties implement all agreements reached so far in the dialogue for the normalization of relations, including the one on the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo, which the government in Pristina has rejected so far, arguing that it could jeopardize the functionality of the state.
