A Kosovo step, a Serbia, as well as when implementation of the agreement will be carried out

Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement on March 18th that was even historic. To ensure its implementation, the European Union will have the main job. What, when implemented, is intended to be decided at a meeting between chief negotiators Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkov, which is expected to be held very soon in Brussels.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq agreed to implement the European proposal for normalisation of relations. The EU and the US welcomed the agreement, demanding rapid and full implementation of it.

To make this call more concrete, EU minister for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak will invite top negotiators Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic to a meeting in Brussels. He confirmed on Tuesday that this will be the next step in dialogue, showing that both countries' representatives will discuss steps to implement the agreement.

The “Autority that will monitor, assess and report on [the agreement's] implementation is the Joint Monitoring Committee, led by the European Union. This is one of the elements of Annex, where it says the Joint Monitoring Committee will be established within 30 days. Now we are working intensively to determine the objectives of this Joint Monitoring Committee. It will be the authority”, Lajcak said in an interview for Radio Free Europe and Euronews in the Serbian language.

He has not denied that the agreement will be required to be implemented by the end of the year, due to elections and important issues within the EU in 2024. This is not a secret”, Lajcak said.

We have said many times that we want to complete this process during the current mandate of the EU leadership, the European Commission, but also the American administration. There will be a new political reality next year. There are elections in Europe, in the United States, there will be less attention, less commitment. We believe we have enough time to complete this process successfully and implement the provisions of this agreement. But all of this depends on the commitment of the” parties, he said.

Many agreements signed between Kosovo and Serbia so far have not been implemented, but this time it seems to be different. Lajcak insists that now “focus is in implementation”.

As to prove this goal, the mediators had prepared a more detailed annex application, with clear deadlines but rejected by the parties.

The fact that Vuciq refused to sign the second annex means nothing to the Slovak diplomat. He said “document is mandatory”.

The parties should not condition the implementation of their part with implementation from the other side, according to Brussels.

parallel implementation

Miroslav Lajcak said that in the rejected draft of the application annex the setting of priorities “was very clear”.

However, he says they are preparing the proposal on how to start implementing the agreement and will also host the parties' proposals.

We are preparing our proposal, I expect them to have their proposals, and for me the best approach to moving forward is to proceed step by step: one side takes one step, another side another. I don't want to talk about these steps right now, because there's no official platform, an official document and we have to agree on that. But I assure you that we are very focused, determined, and we will make sure that what we agreed to will be implemented”, Lajcak said.

Lajcak denied that self-advancing of the Serbian community will initially be addressed. He said these should be put in the agenda first.

This Agreement and its implementation will put many things in motion. Therefore, let us not think about what will happen as a fourth or a fifth step, without making sure that we have applied the first or second step”, he said.

What they declared after Kurti and Vuciq deal

A few hours after dealing with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq, announced that he has no intention of implementing all the provisions of the agreement, proudly stressing that he did not sign.

“I say we will implement most of the things, but I will not apply anything as far as the UN is concerned, neither for the de facto and de jure recognition of Kosovo”, Vuciq said at a news conference in Belgrade tomorrow morning.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will report to the Assembly tomorrow on the deal. The point for which most criticism took place was the pledge to start work immediately for the creation of “an adequate self-aware level” for the Serb community.

But he spoke today at a media conference after the government meeting. According to him, “Self-only” does not mean Association.

“At the point seven of the basic agreement is said to be an adequate level of self-agration of the Serb community. The Serb community is said, no municipalities are said. Community is not a territorial category. The municipalities are territorial and administrative units. But it's not the same. I understand they're completely different and unconnected, but they're the same stuff”, Kurti said.

Lajcak: The sides are obliged to implement any provisions of the Agreement

The European Emissary stated briefly when asked whether the parties are obliged to fully implement any provisions of the agreement towards normalisation.

If you read the deal, if you read the annex, it's quite clear that the parties have pledged, and at the same time, we shouldn't pull the cart in front of the horse. We are focusing on starting with issues that can be carried out by Serbia and Kosovo and what issues can now be done. As I said, this will affect many other things”, Lajcak said.

Lajcak also stated when asked if “self-awareness” implies the establishment of the Association of Serb majority municipalities.

“I want to be clear, Article 7 does not include new pledges for Kosovo. Article 7 speaks of the need to implement what Kosovo and Serbia have already agreed to. That means the 2013 and 2015 agreements, which speak of establishing a kind of association of Serb majority municipalities. Otherwise, that would mean Article 10, which says all previous agreements, plus Article 7, so additional arrangements, which would have no logic”, he said. The name, according to him, doesn't matter.