Swedish Ambassador: There is little chance for positive news from Brussels

During a speech with students of the Faculty of Philosophy in Pristina, the Swedish ambassador ordered the parties in dialogue to implement all agreements from the past, including the establishment of the Association of Major Serb municipalities in Kosovo.

“For normalisation dialogue, I am sure you are aware that today is a meeting in Brussels, between Prime Minister Kurti and President Vuciq. I have noted that there were some pre-negotiations in the media, and your prime minister said he wants to focus on the Franco-German proposal rather than focus on establishing the Association of Serb-run municipalities, because President Vuciq said he wants to see the establishment of association before the Franco-German proposal is discussed. It's not up to me to discuss what happens today. I think there's a small chance for positive news from Brussels today. So let's hope that the European Union's stance on this, including Sweden and the United States, is that all previous agreements must be implemented. The idea is that you cannot choose between previous agreements. Why there's a new government, doesn't mean you can ignore all past governments' commitments, because then you have to start over. You may like it, you may not like some of these agreements, but you should be able to apply those agreements”He said.

He also cited handing over Kosovo's application for membership to the European Union, where he said Sweden, which heads the presidency of the Council of Europe, is continuing consultations with the 27 EU member states and then making a decision on the issue.

“You know that Kosovo handed over the Czech presidency the app for EU application last year in mid-December. We will move the process forward by taking careful consultations with all member states now, starting with so-called non-recognition states. Swedish Ambassador to Brussels leads these consultations, and they are still continuing. We have the first consultations with non-recognising states and are now making consultations with all other member states. Nothing more than this I cannot particularly reveal with the media here in this room, but consultation is continuing, and the main question is whether the Swedish EU presidency should hand over the European Commission for EU membership, namely. This is the main question, but this is actually not up to the Swedish EU presidency, we should consult with all member states and then make a decision. So we will have a very neutral role during the Swedish EU presidency”, He declared Westerlund.

He underlined that the future of six Western Balkan countries lies in the European Union, until he said the same should focus on strengthening rule of law and state reforms./ KP