EU: The Kosovo government's steps in the north are in the right direction, but additional actions are needed

The European Union said on Thursday that the government of Kosovo should take additional steps to reduce tensions in the northern municipalities inhabited by a majority of Serbs and that the bloc is ready to impose punitive measures against Serbia as well if it does not take action in this direction.

Commenting on the letter that dozens of Euro-Western legislators sent to senior officials of the United States and the European Union for changing the approach to Kosovo and Serbia, the bloc's spokesman Peter Stano said that the foreign policy of the European Union is determined by its member countries. .

"All I can say regarding this issue raised by 56 signatories, parliamentarians from several member states and several third countries, is that the policies of the European Union are decided unanimously by the 27 member states, as defined and as required by their own governments. We have thousands and thousands of parliamentarians in the European Union, so the position and actions of the European Union regarding foreign policy are determined unanimously by the decisions of the 27 governments", said Mr. Stano.

The letter signed by ten chairmen of the commissions for foreign relations and 56 deputies calls for preventive diplomacy, balance and non-repetition of past mistakes, while emphasizing the lack of pressure on Serbia after the tensions in the north of Kosovo.

Mr. Stano said that the approach of the European Union is impartial.

"What we have done most recently in light of the escalations that took place is to impose some measures against the government of Kosovo due to its inability to act in a European way towards expansion and taking important steps in this direction," said Mr. Stano stressing that "if the member countries ask for something like this, we will also take the necessary measures against Serbia if these member countries assess that in the current conditions and context of the recent crisis, Serbia is not doing anything to reduce tensions", he said .

Tensions increased at the end of May when the Albanian mayors of the northern municipalities of Kosovo took office with the support of the police, after the April local elections which were boycotted by the Serbs, who demand the implementation of an agreement mediated by the European Union to a lot of self-governance.

Spokesman Stano underlined today that all measures are reversible and depend on how Pristina and Belgrade approach the extension and return to the regular process of talks.

Following an agreement reached on July 10 in Bratislava in a meeting between Kosovo's chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, and the European envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia talks, Miroslav Lajçak, the Kosovo police has already halved its presence in and around municipal buildings in the north .

The Government of Kosovo has made an effort to ensure the legal basis for holding elections, by drafting a document that would enable citizens of municipalities to dismiss their mayors through a petition.

In an email response to the Voice of America, the European Union said it welcomes the latest announcement by the Kosovo government to reduce police presence in and around municipal buildings in northern Kosovo.

"These are steps in the right direction, but further steps are needed," says the response. VOA