Quint disappointed with Kosovo's decision not to allow Serbia's elections

The Quint States have expressed disappointment with the Kosovo government's decision not to allow Serbia's elections, scheduled 3 April.

Quinn's places are: The United States, Great Britain, Italy, Germany and France.

“While we evaluate Serbia's approach to finding solutions, with great disappointment we see the Government of Kosovo's decision to reject the constructive proposal presented by Quint”, the statement said.

With this decision, the Government of Kosovo has failed to demonstrate commitment to the principle of protecting civil and political rights for all citizens, including members of minority groups”, the statement said.

According to Quint, the Kosovo Government's <x0 behaviour is not in line with our values and principles and will undermine its European aspirations”.

Quint also urged Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from any rhetoric and action that could increase tensions and lead to incidents.

“We expect the Government of Kosovo to act in the interest of all its citizens, work to reduce tensions and engage constructively in dialogue on normalising relations with Serbia, which is mediated by the European Union.

This process is critical in achieving progress towards a comprehensive normalisation agreement, which would eventually unblock Kosovo's European perspective”, Quint said.

Quinn's statement also welcomes the Government of Kosovo's decision to impose sanctions on Russia because of the invasion in Ukraine, following the EU's but also US example.

“However, from Kosovo, it is expected to respect fundamental values and responsibilities to regional stability and respect democratic processes, but also pledge protection of minority group rights”, Quint said.

Kosovo has demanded that the Government of Serbia submit a request to Kosovo executive for holding Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections, held 3 April.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vuciq said that at this request, Kosovo has demanded that Serbia recognise its independence.

Serbia could not accept this and Serbia would not accept this”, Vuciq said at a press conference on 22 March.

But, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said he has called for agreement between the two governments to hold elections.

I never intended to bring Serbia's recognition through this correspondence. I knew that this wasn't done, but I can't ask any of me not to recognise the Republic of Kosovo, the independence of our country”, Kurti said in an interview for the Kosovo public broadcaster.

Tuesday, Kurt has said that it has called for Kosovo and Serbia to reach an agreement on holding these elections.

“I would not say that the government has made the decision not to hold Serbia's elections in Kosovo, but the truth is there is no preliminary agreement, of course it represents the condition for holding those elections, which the condition has not been met. We've expected normal exchange of letters Their request, of our treatment, but this didn't happen”, Kurt said.

International Community It has repeatedly called on the Kosovo government to find ways to hold Serbian elections.

The last parliamentary elections, which Serbia has also organised for the Serb community in Kosovo, have been those on 21 June 2020.

Those elections are held according to an earlier practice, where the Kosovo Security and Co-operation Organisation of Europe mission has collected votes. Those votes were later counted in Rashka and Vranje, two border towns in Serbia.

This practice has been in place since 2017, and Kosovo authorities have allowed it. / REL