Photo: Mf.rks-gov.netThe authorities in Pristina have committed themselves to steps leading to de-escalation in the north of Kosovo. These include the withdrawal of part of the police force and Albanian mayors from municipal buildings in the majority Serb communities and the calling of repeated extraordinary elections in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo.
The European Union expects Kosovo to fulfill all the requirements stated in the announcement of June 3, which refer to the steps leading to de-escalation in the north of the country
This implies the calling of early local elections as soon as possible in all four municipalities in the north, which should be organized in a "fully inclusive" manner. The European Union expects Serbs to participate in them as well, said one of the EU's spokespersons in a written statement delivered to the media, RSE reports.
Although European officials as a rule do not want to comment on the statements of local politicians, this message comes a day after Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bisljimi said that special elections should not be called in municipalities with a Serbian majority until the European Union lifts the sanctions against Kosovo.
During the escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo, the European Union announced on June 3 that it is ready to introduce measures against Kosovo if all demands related to the suspension of the operation of the Kosovo Police near the municipal buildings in the north of Kosovo, the removal of Albanian mayors from municipal buildings are not met. and calling early elections.
Since Kosovo did not do so, 10 days later the Union activated those punitive measures: all bilateral meetings with representatives of the Kosovo government were suspended, financial projects were frozen and meetings within the stabilization and association process were suspended.
On July 10, the Special European Representative for Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajčak, and Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Bisljimi reached an agreement in Bratislava on steps leading to de-escalation, which foresee the withdrawal of 25 percent of the police from and around municipal buildings in the north, the organization of extraordinary local elections at the end of summer and return to the dialogue on the normalization of relations.
Pristina politicians believe that this agreement is enough for Brussels to lift the measures, but the diplomatic sources of Radio Free Europe stated that the lifting of the punitive measures will depend on the implementation of the agreement and the obligations Pristina has undertaken.
MN/RSE
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"I see that the US has a critical attitude towards the government of Kosovo, and this is unprecedented. It seems clear that the Biden administration is losing patience with Kosovo, due to slow progress," explained the former EU special representative in Kosovo, Peter Faith. "I have not seen such a critical attitude of the USA towards Kosovo since it declared its independence in 2008," he said and assessed that it would be "a real tragedy for Kosovo if it lost the support of the United States".
