Germany urges Kosovo to establishZieednica

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's clear message that Kosovo and Serbia cannot dream of membership in the European Union without mutual recognition has been repeated on Wednesday by the German special minister for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin.

In a video connection at the Kosovo Summit for Peace and Democracy, Sarrazini has said, however, Germany awaits the initiative of the Serb majority municipalities' association.

Sarrazin has confirmed that in the EU it is working for “creating momentum for visa liberalisation”.

He has said that there have been “reductions recently in Kosovo to find other ways, besides the current dialogue, for Kosovo's path towards the EU. And today it is clear that the debate turns into mutual recognition, at the core of EU enlargement and that dialogue is the way to that, through the normalisation agreement and then membership, and then there may be different views of how to go on further”, Sarrazini has said.

Sarrazini has added that since Kosovo has the attention to mutual recognition as the centre of dialogue, attention in Serbia is to the Association. Sarrazin has added that “dialog is returning to the core of the debate”, and this is due to the “unification of EU member states, European institutions and partners in the United States and United Kingdom”.

He has also talked about recent agreements, such as IDs and energy. He said the ID agreement “is a small step” that shows progress is possible. It has offered Germany's support for the EU's special minister for dialogue, Kosovo-Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, for reaching other agreements. He's the cook, we're the people in the kitchen. Of course, German food is very good. Some people say the Frenchman is better, but even the Brits can cook pretty well. But it is clear that we are all behind Lajcak and we support him on this task”, he said.

Commending Scholzi's decision to revive the Berlin Process, Sarrazini has said this should not be be be overlooked. He has added that they have positive expectations from the Berlin Summit on 3 November. Sarrazini has recalled Scholz's famous speech in Pristina months ago, when it said that without mutual recognition two states could enter the EU.

It was clear in the aim of the process, mutual recognition as step forward in EU accession for both states. On the other hand, we also expect from Kosovo a clear commitment to dialogue and the cleanup of topics defined in the Brussels Agreement, of course within the constitutional framework. The clear dependence on independence and territorial integrity of the state of Kosovo, but also on clearing this debt, taboos in these debates, especially on provisions set up in the Brussels Agreement, do not help. So, we expect the debate on Association of Serb majority municipalities in the Republic of Kosovo to open, Sarrazin has said.