The European Commission will ask Kosovo and Serbia to, without delay, take steps to implement the Agreement towards the normalization of relations between them, known as the Ohrid Agreement, as well as other obligations, resulting from the dialogue process.<\/p>\n
This order is included in the draft Progress Reports for both Kosovo and Serbia, which will be approved in Brussels at the end of this month.<\/span><\/p>\n Radio Free Europe was informed about their texts, in which both parties are reminded that their journey towards the EU is conditioned by the process of normalizing relations between them, which is now formally an obligation for both countries.<\/span><\/p>\n In the draft reports, it is stated that Kosovo and Serbia have participated in the dialogue, but they are required to demonstrate more seriously and constructively their commitment to move forward.<\/span><\/p>\n Kosovo and Serbia are requested to avoid inciting actions and rhetoric that endanger stability and are not compatible with dialogue and reconciliation.<\/span><\/p>\n The lack of steps by Serbia to bring to justice the perpetrators of the attacks on the Kosovo Police in Banjska is mentioned as an obstacle in the normalization process, but also the lack of concrete steps by Kosovo to start the procedure for the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.<\/span><\/p>\n “The process of normalization [of relations] continues to be affected by the lack of sufficient steps by Serbia to ensure accountability and bring to justice those responsible for the violent attacks by armed Kosovo Serbs against the Kosovo Police on September 24 , 2023, in Banjska, which were the most severe de-escalation in recent years”, this draft document states.<\/span><\/p>\n It is requested that Serbia fully cooperates and undertakes the necessary measures to catch and quickly bring to justice the perpetrators of these attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n In the report, it is estimated that tensions in the north of Kosovo, an area inhabited by a majority of Serbs, remain high and the criticism of the Kosovo authorities is repeated for what are described as “uncoordinated actions”, which are said to have fueled tensions.<\/span><\/p>\n The continuation of the boycott of the institutions of Kosovo by the Serbs is considered as “a serious setback for Serbia in the implementation of the obligations from the dialogue”.<\/span><\/p>\n The European Commission requests that the parties in the dialogue respect the Agreement on official visits, enable the visits of chief negotiators to the territory of each other’s countries, as well as the participation of Kosovo in regional initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n It is also called that the operation of regional initiatives is not affected by bilateral disagreements between Kosovo and Serbia.<\/span><\/p>\n The European Commission also with this annual document calls on Kosovo to start the procedure for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.<\/span><\/p>\n It is required that the draft statute proposed by several European countries, which was submitted to the parties in October 2023, be the basis for this.<\/span><\/p>\n This proposal, the report states, is based on the best European examples and is in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, for the proposal that was submitted by the management team, made up of Kosovo Serbs, it is said that it was not in accordance with the dialogue agreements, so it is requested that the so-called “European proposal” be taken as a basis.<\/span><\/p>\n In the draft report on Serbia, it is stated that the obligations for the implementation of the Agreement on the path to the normalization of relations are a formal part of the negotiating framework for Serbia’s membership in the EU, in chapter 35.<\/span><\/p>\n So for Serbia, chapter 23, which is about the rule of law, and the normalization of relations with Kosovo will condition the dynamics of the entire process of its integration into the EU.<\/span><\/p>\n The enlargement package and Progress Reports for ten countries in this process will be approved at the European Commission meeting on Wednesday, October 30, in Brussels.<\/span><\/p>\n This will be the last package to be approved by this composition of the European Commission, as soon the new five-year mandate will start with the new composition of the Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The European Commission will ask Kosovo and Serbia to, without delay, take steps to implement the Agreement towards the normalization of relations between them, known as the Ohrid Agreement, as well as other obligations, resulting from the dialogue process. This order is included in the draft Progress Reports for both Kosovo and Serbia, which will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":72861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,1803],"tags":[243,151],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n