The United States Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on Tuesday that he had not received any commitment from the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, regarding the implementation of the basic agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and its annex.<\/p>\n
Kurti stated on Monday that he had discussed with the American envoy \u201cthe importance of the swift and full implementation of the Basic Agreement and its Annex\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, in an interview with the Voice of America on September 12, Escobar said, \u201cI have not received a commitment from Kurti\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want a concrete commitment for the start of implementation (of the agreement). And as far as Kosovo is concerned, this includes presenting the draft of the association for Serbian-majority municipalities. He did not commit to doing this. Essentially, he committed to going to Brussels and being present at meetings, but nothing beyond that,\u201d Escobar added.<\/p>\n
On February 27, in Brussels, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the Basic Agreement for the normalization of relations between the two countries. On March 18, the parties also agreed on the Implementation Annex, which envisages a certain level of self-governance for the Serbian community in Kosovo.<\/p>\n
Escobar made these comments on the eve of a meeting between the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, scheduled for Thursday in Brussels.<\/p>\n
This will be the first meeting between Kurti and Vu\u010di\u0107 since tensions in northern Kosovo escalated at the end of May.<\/p>\n
The last meeting between the dialogue facilitators of Kosovo and Serbia took place on May 2, nine days after the extraordinary elections in northern Kosovo, which were boycotted by the local Serbian population.<\/p>\n
The American envoy stated that the fastest and easiest way to hold new elections in northern Kosovo would be if the current Albanian leaders resign.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to have new elections with the participation of Serbs, I think resignations are the fastest, easiest way. The petition as an initiative has never been tried before. We are asking the Serbs to participate fully in the elections when they are decided to be held. How we get there is a matter to be discussed between the parties. However, I believe that resignations would be the quickest. Nevertheless, we are closely monitoring the situation,\u201d Escobar said.<\/p>\n
While the Albanian leaders have not agreed to resign, Kosovo is committed to reorganizing the elections but wants to do so through an administrative instruction that allows citizens to dismiss their respective municipal leaders through a petition.<\/p>\n
Escobar stated that what concerns him in Kosovo is \u201cthe ongoing lack of coordination between the two parties on the way forward, including the use of special police units for property seizures and the eviction of some Serbian institutions from government buildings\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of this needs to be resolved within the framework of dialogue, and we call on the two parties to ensure that all issues are coordinated with the international community,\u201d he emphasized.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the Mayor of North Mitrovica, Erden Atiq, who emerged from the April elections and comes from Prime Minister Kurti\u2019s Self-Determination party, called for the release of a communal building in the Bosniak neighborhood, claiming that \u201cfour Serbian institutions are unlawfully using it, as the building belongs to the municipality\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, the Directorate of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, the Administrative District of Mitrovica in Kosovo, and the Social Welfare Center have long been using this municipal building.<\/p>\n
This decision has been opposed by the European Union and the U.S. Embassy in Pristina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on Tuesday that he had not received any commitment from the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, regarding the implementation of the basic agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and its annex. Kurti stated on Monday that he had discussed with the American envoy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":56069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[429,308,300,1929,150,243,151,383,301,490,787],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n