France, Germany call for implementation of normalisation agreement

France's Ambassador to Kosovo, Olivier Guerot, has declared that he expects the Kosovo government to start talks on forming the Association of Serb majority municipalities.

He added that “these days are expected meetings on this issue”.

Ambassador Guert stressed that from Serbia's leader, he expects him to respect the obligations he has made and that, on the contrary, there will be consequences for both sides.

“It is very early to say what the consequences will be and now we need to focus on the benefits”, Guert said in the debate on implementing the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on normalising relations, which is being held Friday at the Media Centre in Caglavica, near Pristina.

On February 27th, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, agreed to the Agreement on normalising relations on the basis of the European proposal, while on March 18th in Ohrid, they agreed to the Annex for its implementation.

The French ambassador stressed that key negotiators within dialogue, Besnik Bislim and Petar Petkov, will meet on April 4th in Brussels, and praised that this is the first step towards implementing the Agreement.

In the same debate, German Ambassador to Kosovo Jorn Rohde has expressed optimism about implementing this agreement and has stressed that the most important thing at this point is that the agreement has been reached.

“Now we have the political will of actors”, Rode said.

He has expressed the opinion that the agreement on normalisation of relations is a “long-term”, and added that Kosovo should respect the part that concerns the self-awareness of the Serb community in Kosovo, meanwhile Serbia should not block Kosovo's membership in international organisations.

The German ambassador believes this agreement will facilitate the lives of ordinary citizens, especially members of the Serb community living in northern Kosovo.

The agreement towards normalisation, among other things, envisions mutual respect for independence, autonomy and territorial integrity, but does not specifically mention recognition of Kosovo's independence by Serbia.

Also, Serbia takes over not to block Kosovo's membership in international organisations, while the deal also envisions mutual recognition of license plates, symbols, documents, diplomas and customs stamps.

Also, a particular <x0 ...aragement for the Serb community in Kosovo” is also envisioned in the agreement, or, a certain level of self-advancing.

This proposal is supported by Western countries, including the United States of America.

The European Union has announced earlier that this agreement, although not signed, is legally binding and will become an integral part of Serbia and Kosovo's integration process in the European Union.