Peace over presentation of Association draft status

EU envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has confirmed that at the next meeting between Prime Minister Albin Kurti and President Aleksandar Vuciq, held at 02.05 in Brussels, a first draft committee association with the Serb Majority in Kosovo will be presented. But the likelihood of Kosovo and Serbia agreeing to that appears to be minimal. The sides have diametrically opposed objections and positions.

However, the May 2nd meeting between Kurti and Vuciqi with the presence of EU emissary Miroslav Lajcak is nominated as significant.

It is important for me to have a planned meeting between President Vuciq and Prime Minister Kurti in Brussels on 2 May, where the process of creating this community will be the beginning of the agenda. The draft of its statute, which is the first binding and important step”, will be presented, Lajcak has indicated. The meeting is also expected to sign a joint declaration agreed on at the previous meeting for missing persons during the war in Kosovo.

Kurti: Not so well-known as the management team.

In terms of the management team's work, reserves are presented from Kosovo. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that the work of the Management Team, which consists of representatives of the Serb community, and the content of the statute are not as he says, “as well known”.

He has said he has indicated to the European Union readiness to draft the draft state of association on its own, but that it has been told by the EU that this is the work of the Managing Team.

“This has been the moderator's position, while I as Kosovo prime minister care about constitutionality, legitimacy and that everything is in place and in line with our goals and principles”, Kurti has said.

Vuciq: The statute will be presented

Otherwise, it is the position of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq before the meeting. He has said the Managing Team on May 2nd will present the statute for forming Association, but has added that “has no high expectations that the other side will accept it”.

In 2013, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on forming the Association of Communities with the Serbian Majority, but the agreement has never been implemented, as Serbia insists on executive competencies, while Kosovo does not accept them.

But what is known and who is the management team to form the Association statute?

In 2016, a year after Kosovo and Serbia agreed to the principles of Association, the then Ministry of Local Power appointed the Management Team. At the time, Lubomir Mariq of the Serbian List was leading the ministry. Now Mariq is deputy of Serbia's Parliament by the Serbian Progressive Party. Maric, who was the co-ordinator of the Management Team, appointed four people to write the statute of Association of Serb-based municipalities: Igor Kalammar, Dejan Radojkovic, Vinko Radosavlevljevic and Svetislav Durlevic.

Whether this Ekip Manager has drafted new Association statute and Prime Minister Kurti has no knowledge of it.

My Minister of Local Power Management Elbert Krasniqi has invited the management team to the meeting, but they have not responded. So there is this minister within the Government who deals closely with this draft-state management team, as once the agreement was made in Brussels, as has been changed in government composition, before I become prime minister”, Kurti said.

For their part, EU officials have not clarified whether the management team will bring the Association statute to the May 2nd meeting, but only reminded that association is Kosovo's obligation, agreed with the signing of the Brussels Agreement in 2013, and that all agreements must be implemented. The European Union has been clear all the time when it comes to the Association of Serb Major Communities. We have reiterated this in response to local elections in municipalities in northern Kosovo, the formation of association” is urgently needed, said EU spokesman Peter Stano.

The formation of Association also calls for the president of Serbia, Vuciq. Members of the Serb community in northern Kosovo will not return to institutions without the formation of association, according to him. While official Pristina accuses Belgrade of violating the Ohrid Agreement after Serbia voted against Kosovo's application for membership to the Council of Europe.

EU spokesman Peter Stano said Brussels “is aware” that Serbia voted against Kosovo's application for membership to the Council of Europe, but did not want to answer the question whether the EU considers the move a violation of the agreement towards normalisation of reports, which Kosovo and Serbia arrived earlier this year. Article 4 of this agreement says “Serbia will not oppose Kosovo's membership in international institutions”. Although Kurti and Vuciq did not sign the agreement, the EU considers it legally binding agreement for both sides.

“There is a commitment at the highest political level and that commitment has now become obligatory in the membership process for both sides. Progress in dialogue and implementation of the agreements will be reflected in their journey to the European Union”, Peter Stano said.

Common Commission for Implementation Monitored

The European Union has already announced that the Joint Commission for Implementation Monitoring Agreement reached between Kosovo and Serbia has been established for normalising relations. The agreement has been reached 27 February in Brussels, while compatibility for the implementation annex has been reached on March 18th in Ohrid. The joint Commission's “task is to monitor implementation of the Agreement on the road towards normalisation of reports between Kosovo and Serbia and the annex of its implementation. This is the concrete result and concrete implementation of what was achieved at the summit, between Serbia's president, Vuciq and Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti”, spokesman Stano has said.

Members of this joint commission will be EU special envoy for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak, who will head this commission on behalf of the EU. Kosovo will be represented by its ambassador to Brussels, Agron Bajrami, while Serbia will represent, its delegation's chief for dialogue, Petar Petkov. The joint commission will meet regularly in Brussels.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that the Ohrid Agreement does not represent the whole elements, but presents a package in which you cannot cut any part. “We have pledged, and we have reiterated our position, for full implementation of this package, of this basic agreement, and the relevant annex for implementation, and now I believe that Brussels has the word to force Serbia to this”, Kurti has said. The 11-nine agreement does not force Serbia to recognise Kosovo, but requires both countries to accept each other's documents and symbols, including territory, passports, diplomas and license plates. /dw/