Opposition doubts Kurti could negotiate EU Plan implementation for dialogue

Two opposition parties in Kosovo, The PDK and LDK suspect that Prime Minister Albin Kurti may impose or negotiate something on the guidance of implementing the European Union plan for the normalisation agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

A day after a stay in Kosovo by the EU emissary for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, where he met with opposition leaders, senior party officials say of Kosovo that Kurti has agreed to everything on that plan and only issues of signing the agreement remain, along with the annex of implementation. According to them, the only negotiation will be the date for establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo.

Democratic Party of Kosovo Vice-President Vlora Citaku tells Kosovo that Prime Minister Kurti has only been left to go to the signing ceremony, as he considers he has agreed to everything he plans to do, including his implementation.

The prime minister has already agreed with everything on that plan, and it is only a matter of days when the signing ceremony” is held, she says.

More critical is Prime Minister Kurti's deputy of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti.

He is pessimistic that Kurti will push ahead of his agenda as much as he has an annex to the European Union plan.

LDK's Headship member says Kurti has degraded dialogue and the only negotiation that will be held will be the mode for the status of the Orthodox Church and only the Serbian community in Kosovo, involved at the 7th point of the EU plan.

These government officials we have are unable to negotiate anything, impose or advance anything from them. This draft, agreed on in Brussels, has been in circulation in media and public since September last year. We have been told in the Assembly by the prime minister that the plan proposed by the mediator is not a plan for revenge or let go, but must be negotiated. Finally came to the point that again before the Assembly, he said it is the only non-negotiable plan to be accepted by the state of Kosovo. These guys are unable to negotiate anything... What a degradation this is of the process now to carry the dialogue to Skopje and to be delivered only by negotiating the date when the association is established even this particular status of the Serbian Orthodox Church or the Serb community's own modalities in Kosovo”, Hoti points out.

On the other hand, government officials have not returned answers to negotiating the EU's plan for dialogue and opportunities for it to be signed on March 18th in northern Macedonia.

And, the connoisseur of the dialogue process, university professor in Great Britain Seb Bytqy, says Kosovo has the comfort of negotiating more severely in the annex of the agreement with Serbia.

According to him, the EU's plan for dialogue for Serbia has no turning back and this gives Kosovo more room for negotiations even around the association.

“The annex can be reached in terms of implementing the agreement within weeks or extended for several months. Now Kosovo is in a more comfortable position where reconciliation has been reached for the overall plan meaning recognition defacto from Serbia. It also means there can be no going back for Serbia. This gives Kosovo a comfort to negotiate more sharply in terms of anaxi of implementation, including the issue involving association”, he declares.

During this week in Kosovo remained the EU's minister for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak. After meetings with the heads of state, he said his expectations for implementation of the EU's plan for dialogue have been met.

He will stay in Belgrade early next week to see their prospects for the EU plan.

On March 18th in northern Macedonia, the next high-level dialogue meeting is expected to be held, where the EU's plan for dialogue and annexing for its implementation is expected to be discussed. /kp