5 hours agoThe EU and US's clear request towards the Kurti and Vuciqi: Apply Ohrid Agreement
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)European Union for Foreign Policy and Security High Representative Josep Borrell announced to the EU foreign ministers on the Ohrid Agreement, which was reached between Kosovo and Serbia on March 18th. According to Borrell, this is a big achievement and, as he said, “me will not be in a state of crisis, but in [...]
These agreements come into effect with the statement I issued. It was not signed for legal reasons, but both sides agreed that my declaration is commitment on their part to fully fulfill the obligations that come out of this agreement and the annex of implementation”, Borrell said.
The chief of European diplomacy reiterated that official Pristina is in urgent beginning to form the Association of Serb majority municipalities.
“Callendari requires each side to do its part, does not start building the house from the roof. Some of these things are very urgent, I have said that Kosovo urgently should be committed to forming association. A series of commitments have been made, and we will see how the parties will meet them”, Borrell said.
At the Ohrid meeting, held on March 18th under the mediation of the European Chief Diplomat, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and President Aleksandar Vuciq agreed with the annex of implementation of the Agreement towards normalisation of reports. The agreement, released by the European Union on February 27th in Brussels, has 11 articles, but does not specifically mention mutual recognition. However, the document requires both sides to accept each other's documents and symbols, including passports, diplomas and license plates. The agreement also requires that the parties implement all agreements reached so far in dialogue on normalising relations, including that of forming the majority Serb municipalities in Kosovo. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who does not like to call Asociation, says Kosovo “will be guided by the highest standards that even Serbs in Kosovo do not have any damage to”.
“There is a paragraph that speaks of an adequate level of self-awareness of the non-Serb community and of course we will be guided by the highest standards that even Serbs in Kosovo have no vulnerability, no discrimination”, Prime Minister Kurti said after a meeting he held with the ambassadors of the QUINT countries in Pristina.
Pressure on Pristina and Belgrade officials to start implementing the agreement immediately is making the US as well. The US envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, who was observers at the Ohrid meeting, said reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia for implementing the agreement on normalising relations is historic, and parties should start immediately putting it into their lives. According to him, the agreement has legal obligations to fulfill. Pristina must do its job, and Serbia should do it, he said, adding that Belgrade should start recognising Kosovo documents and national symbols.
For Kosovo it is important to begin drafting its version of the Serb majority municipalities' Association. There are many other obligations, but I think these are the most important”, said Mr. Escobar, at a news conference in distance.
“We believe that there should be one (Association) that serves the interests of the people of the region, one that works for both sides, which allows ethnic Serbs to participate fully in Kosovo's civil and democratic life. But it should also be an association that does not violate Kosovo's constitutional structure or affect its functionality”, Gabriel Escobar said. He made it clear that the reconciliation of Kosovo and Serbia in Ohrid for implementation of the agreement is legal duty, though there were no signatures.
I want to make it clear. This is the legal obligation Serbia has been hired for, as has Kosovo. The discussion about the signing is focused on something that has no impact on the fact that we have an agreement. It's an agreement, we deal with it, both sides entered it seriously, and the European Union confirmed it is in its own eyes”, American emissary Gabriel Escobar stressed.
On the other hand, Serbia's Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, has said Serbia is ready to implement the agreement reached with Kosovo in Ohrid, but only to its red lines.
Our red lines, which we disagree with include mutual recognition: non-recognition of Kosovo and no membership of Kosovo in the United Nations”, Dacic said in Brussels, during a donor conference, following the earthquake that has hit Turkey. According to him, the Ohrid Agreement, “is only in the direction of normalisation of relations and nothing more than that”.
Ivica Dacic: Serbia won't break its red lines
I think it's a continuation of what we started about 10 years ago, and in this respect, it is very important to know that this is an agreement for further steps in normalising relations and not on status issues”, Dacic said.
However, the European plan for normalising relations for which Pristina and Belgrade agreed on February 27th in Brussels, while on March 18th agreed on its implementation, requires good neighbourly relations, recognition of documents and symbols, and respect of sovereignty and land integrity. It requires that the parties not stumble each other into integration processes, but does not require mutual recognition. For this very reason, opposition parties in Kosovo invited Prime Minister Kurti to the parliamentary session to report the deal, which the opposition says would hurt for a long period of the country's integration processes. (DW)
