EU: Kosovo and Serbia to fully implement the Ohrid agreement

On Tuesday, the European Union called on Kosovo and Serbia to fully implement all the points of the agreement reached on March 18 in Ohrid, which, among other things, requires the parties not to hinder each other in joining international organizations.

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, made these comments a day after the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe decided to approve the request for Kosovo's membership in this mechanism. Belgrade voted against this decision.

"The European Union has repeated on several occasions what is our position and our expectation from both parties, and this is that all points of the agreement must be implemented quickly, in good faith and independently of each other, for which parties are agreed" , said Mr. Stano.

He did not say whether Serbia's vote represents a violation of the Ohrid agreement, but he emphasized that the European Union is aware of this vote.

In Kosovo, the decision of the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe was evaluated as a step with historical weight for the country, but the official Belgrade reacted strongly against it.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Tuesday after the Serbian government meeting that anyone who says that Kosovo's membership in this mechanism is part of the Ohrid agreement is a lie. " They have been clearly told what we will implement and what we will not", he said in a conference with journalists.

Mr. Stano said that EU member states and the international community in general now expect more concrete actions and not words from both sides.

Serbian President Vucic said on Monday that Serbia has not signed the Ohrid Agreement and will not implement the parts that talk about the integration of Kosovo in international organizations.

"We continue to hear comments from one side or the other, but instead of public statements, comments and exchanges, etc., the member countries of the European Union and international partners expect no more public words but concrete actions.

Therefore again the discussions about the signature are completely useless and irrelevant because there is a commitment at the highest political level and this commitment has now become legally binding on the integration path of both parties," said Mr. Stano adding that "advancement in dialogue and in implementation it will also be reflected politically, economically and financially in their integration path, therefore it is a matter of reliability, sincerity and determination of both parties because this will determine how they will move forward in fulfilling a strategic priority that they have decided to himself".

He underlined the importance of establishing the Association of Serb-majority municipalities as a matter of urgent priority.

Otherwise, the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority was a condition for the participation of Serbian political parties in the April 23 elections in northern Kosovo.

Despite their boycott, observers estimate that the election process took place without any incident, but the extremely low voter turnout has raised questions about the implementation of the election result.

The Central Election Commission on Tuesday announced the final results of the elections, according to which the Vetëvendosje movement won in two municipalities, Leposaviq and North Mitrovia, while the Democratic Party of Kosovo won in the other two municipalities of Zubin Potok and Zveqan. VOA