BE: You name it

Kosovo cannot run away from its responsibilities from the Brussels dialogue and the designation of the European draft statute for the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority as "non-paper" by its officials, shows a lack of respect for its obligations from the dialogue, he said. EU spokesman Peter Stano said on Tuesday.

"Calling the draft European statute simply a 'non-paper' represents disregard for the invitation of the Council of the European Union to act on its basis without new delays towards the establishment of the Association", said Stano.

In October 2023, the EU submitted to Kosovo and Serbia a "modern draft statute" for the formation of the Association. The United States, Germany, France and Italy - supported it.

Since then, the United States and the European Union have repeatedly called on Kosovo to send this draft statute to the Constitutional Court.

Officials of the Government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti in the past have described the European draft statute as "non-paper".

But, a few days after Kurti said that he, as prime minister, cannot establish associations of municipalities, his spokesman, Pëparim Kryeziu, told local media on November 1 that the European draft statute "is that of a non-paper", and that the prime minister did not accept it.

In the language of the European institutions, "non-paper" is an informal document, which is exposed in closed negotiations within the EU institutions, in an attempt to find an agreement on any disputed issue.

However, Stano insisted that Kurti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vučić, accepted this draft status in principle last year, when the EU's special envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak, presented it to European leaders. French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"In the conclusions of December 2023, the European Council welcomed the readiness of Serbia and Kosovo to accept the draft statute proposed to the parties by the EU facilitator. This represents formal acceptance of the document by all 27 member countries", Stano emphasized.

He added that the bloc regrets that "despite the acceptance of the document", no progress has been achieved towards the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in accordance with the draft European statute.

"In accordance with the official recommitment to dialogue and full implementation of all agreements, we ask Kosovo to move forward with its establishment without new delays", he added.

Kosovo and Serbia initially reached an agreement on the formation of the Association in 2013 and another agreement on the principles in 2015. However, the Government of Kosovo refuses to form, as it says, a mono-ethnic association, while Serbia insists on the implementation of the agreement.

In 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo assessed that the agreement on principles is not in accordance with the Constitution in its 23 points, although they can be harmonized.

Stano emphasized that, although 11 years have passed since the first agreement, Kosovo has not yet taken the "necessary steps" towards its establishment and "therefore is not fulfilling its clear obligations under international law".

He said that the Government of Kosovo cannot give up the burden of responsibilities arising from the dialogue and that the establishment of the Association cannot be left to the municipalities.

"Any proposal must be discussed with Serbia and the EU facilitator and must be in accordance with the agreements of 2013 and 2015. This also means that the Government of Kosovo cannot draft the statute outside the dialogue process" , he underlined.

Days ago, the spokeswoman of the European Union, Nabila Massrali, told Radio Free Europe that the establishment of the Association is a legal obligation for Kosovo, according to international law.

According to her, the fact that the agreements for the Association were reached within the dialogue, "means that each proposal must be discussed with Serbia and the EU mediator".

Even in the EU's Progress Report for Kosovo, the lack of steps towards the establishment of the Association was mentioned as an obstacle in the process of normalization between neighboring countries./ REL