European Union Spokesperson Peter Stano has said that the bloc does not rule out the possibility of Kosovo facing additional measures if the Government fails to meet international demands.
“There is a series of measures, or proposals for a series of measures. Some of them have already come into force. Some are still being discussed, and member states will gradually implement them if there is no change in the approach of the authorities in Kosovo. The spectrum is relatively wide,” said Stano at a press conference.
According to him, the measures taken against Kosovo are not sanctions or restrictive measures in the classical sense.
Stano stated that the measures are temporary and are a response to the “failure” of Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti to take concrete and immediate steps to reduce tensions in the northern part of Kosovo.
When asked why the EU is not taking measures against Serbia, which “does not implement the agreement with Kosovo, instigates problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and does not support sanctions against Russia”, Stano said that these issues should not be mixed with each other.
“… because there is a specific situation in Kosovo, tensions created as a result of elections with low citizen participation.”
He stated that Serbia has taken steps to reduce tensions by making partial withdrawals of the army from the areas near the territory of Kosovo.
Throughout the press conference, Stano reiterated several times that despite efforts and bilateral discussions between high-level EU officials and Prime Minister Kurti, the latter has “not taken the necessary steps to reduce tensions”.
“The letter he sent to the High Representative Borrell, where he made five proposals, does not address the main problem and fails to take steps to reduce tensions.”
When asked to comment on Kurti’s criticism of the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajčák, that he is not acting as an impartial facilitator but “comes with Serbia’s requests”, Stano said he does not comment on the statements of parties and that “Lajčák was appointed and received his mandate from 27 EU countries and carries out his mandate on behalf of the EU in an impartial manner”.
Diplomatic sources say that the European Union has prepared initial measures, such as sanctions against Kosovo due to the government’s failure to respond to the immediate steps requested by the European Union for the reduction of tensions in the north.
According to these measures, the sanctions will include the suspension of invitations for Kosovo’s participation in high-level events and bilateral visits from the European Union and member states. Meetings will only take place when they need to focus on addressing the crisis in northern Kosovo and finding a solution.
Local Serbs have opposed such actions and have been protesting in front of municipal buildings since May 29th.
EU diplomatic sources have said that member states are not obligated to implement measures against Kosovo, but some of them have already started to apply certain restrictive measures.
