Vucic's calls for the reintegration of Serbs in Kosovo, EU: We welcome the readiness expressed by the president

The European Union, referring to the measures and calls of the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, for the Serbs in Kosovo, asked both countries to engage constructively in the dialogue for the normalization of relations.

"We welcome the willingness expressed by President Vucic to continue engagement in the dialogue facilitated by the EU. We also positively receive his call for the Serbs of Kosovo to participate in the elections in Kosovo and reintegrate in all the institutions of Kosovo, from which they left in 2022", said the spokesperson of the EU, Peter Stano.

He made the comments in response to Radio Free Europe's request to comment on some of Vucic's demands and measures he put forward last week.

Among other things, they include the announcement and holding of "local, free and democratic elections" in the north of Kosovo, inhabited by a majority of Serbs, as well as the return of Serbs to the Regional Police Directorate of Kosovo for the north and the return of Serbian judges and prosecutors in their functions.

The municipalities in the north are currently led by Albanians, after the local Serbian residents boycotted the elections in that area.

Serbian leaders, as well as other community officials, resigned from Kosovo institutions in the north in November 2022, when tensions were high due to the decision of the Kosovo authorities to replace Serbian car plates with Serbian ones. Kosovo. Stano said that the EU has repeatedly called on Belgrade to encourage the reintegration of Serbs into Kosovo's institutions, and on Pristina to enable it.

"The dialogue agreements foresee the steps and procedures for this to happen, in accordance with and respecting the legal framework of Kosovo", said Stano.

"In this context, the implementation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is very important", he added, also referring to Vucic's request for the establishment of this association in Kosovo.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has not yet commented on Vucic's requests. Radio Free Europe has been contacting his Government since last Friday, but has not received a response. The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, said that Vucic is trying to preserve in Kosovo "what it no longer has".

"He [Vučić], in fact, is threatening the Republic of Kosovo through his press conference, but this is a threat, which, to be honest, does not impress us much. We are not afraid, we are not worried, because in that part of the country are the institutions of Kosovo, are the security institutions, are the political institutions, are the municipalities that are functioning... It is a lost chance for citizens who have other opinions to participate in the political process and to be a co-participant in the political process. After what happened, the country took a new direction", said Konjufca.

Stano repeated calls to avoid inflammatory rhetoric and what he called unilateral steps.

"Inciting and misleading rhetoric, as well as unilateral and uncoordinated actions go against dialogue. They put at risk the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as the safety of their citizens", said Stano.

"The way forward for both parties is to confirm their constructive engagement in the normalization process. The first case for this is the meeting of the chief negotiators on September 17 in Brussels", said the EU spokesperson.

Radio Free Europe learned from reliable sources in the EU that the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic, have confirmed going to Brussels. It is not yet clear whether they will have a joint meeting, or only separately with EU officials./REL