EU on Kurti's statements: We do not comment on baseless accusations

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, described as "baseless accusations" the statements of the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, about the EU envoy for dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, stressing that the latter has the support of all countries member of the bloc.

On September 18, Kurti declared in Pristina that during the last dialogue meeting between Kosovo and Serbia - held in Brussels on September 14 - Lajcak was "positioned" against Kosovo.

The Kosovar Prime Minister said that during this meeting - which ended without a result - there seemed to be a coordination between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and Lajcak for, as he said, the creation of an "alternative scenario, where half of the agreement is implemented".

Kurti said that Lajçak "deformed" the dialogue process, claiming that he did not focus on the full and unconditional implementation of the Agreement towards normalization, but allowed "to put the cart before the horse, the Association of Municipalities once, and then see".

The agreement that Kurti referred to was reached earlier this year. It does not include the mutual recognition that Kosovo insists on, but requires Kosovo and Serbia to accept each other's documents and symbols, including: passports, diplomas and license plates. The parties also promise to implement the agreements reached earlier in the dialogue process.

Stano was asked by journalists how the dialogue can continue in this format since Kurti has openly expressed distrust towards the facilitator of the process, whom he did not consider neutral and impartial.

"As for Kurti's statements, we do not comment on them, especially when they contain baseless accusations. I think that the EU member states have consistently reiterated very clearly their full support for the EU Special Representative, Miroslav Lajcak, as well as for the High Representative [Josep Borrell]. They fully support their efforts to help Kosovo and Serbia reach the stage when they normalize relations between them", he said.

According to Stanos, the latest support for the dialogue facilitators, Borrell and Lajcak, came through the communique issued on behalf of the 27 countries of the bloc on September 19.

“Kjo do të thotë se është një deklaratë e miratuar nga ministrat e Jashtëm të 27 shteteve anëtare. Dhe kjo deklaratë saktësisht nënvizon pritjet e BE-së për Kosovën dhe Serbinë dhe si të ecet përpara në dialog”, tha Stano, duke theksuar se në deklaratë në mënyrë “eksplicite kërkohet nga Kosova dhe Serbia të ecin me zbatimin e obligimeve të tyre pa vonesa të reja”.

Në këtë deklaratë, që u lëshua pasi Borrell u takua në Nju Jork me kryediplomatët evropianë, BE-ja kërkoi edhe themelimin pa vonesa të Asociacionit të komunave me shumicë serbe.

Për Asocacionin, Kosova dhe Serbia kanë arritur marrëveshje më 2013. Por, Prishtina nuk e ka zbatuar atë, duke shprehur frikën se mund të cenojë funksionalitetin e shtetit.

Otherwise, after the meeting on September 14, the European Union said that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, was not ready to move forward, unlike the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who "accepted their proposal" for the implementation of the Basic Agreement for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations.

The head of the EU's foreign policy, Josep Borrell, stated that Kurti insisted on formalizing, first, the de facto recognition of Kosovo by Serbia.

Kurti in Brussels said that "Serbia's conditionality" for the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority "has turned into the position of EU emissaries".

According to Vucic, Kurt simply "avoids the formation of the Association... this is the essence of everything".