American Senator: No guarantee that association will not be a Republika Srpska

During a session of this committee, where the senior adviser of the US State Department, Derek Chollet, and Washington's envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, Menandez, said Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, has publicly been declared not to respect the Ohrid Agreement, saying he would not recognise Kosovo's independence.

The US Senator said that pressure is not being put on Belgrade, adding that Vuciq is continuing to embrace nationalist narrators, as the idea of “Serbia's Great”, just as Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, is pushing ahead the idea for “the Great Russian “.

There is no guarantee that the Association will not become a Republika Srpska, as in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Menandez warned at the start of this committee session, Rel reports.

Chollet, during the opening address, said the Western Balkan region is a priority for the American president's administration, Joe Biden.

Speaking of reports between Kosovo and Serbia, he said they present the main challenge in this region. Chollette reiterated that the European path of both countries cannot happen unless they resolve differences between themselves.

The Ohrid Agreement, according to Chollet, will bring benefits to both states, adding that the US continues to encourage parties to implement their pledges.

Cholls: No major implementation of Ohrid Agreement

Menandez raised questions about the validity of the Agreement towards normalisation of reports, given the fact that Kosovo and Serbia leaders have not signed it.

“We are not seeing major implementation of this agreement from either side”, Chollet said.

He added that for the US, despite the non-signed agreement, it is legally binding.

A day before his presentation to the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Cholles held separate telephone conversations with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq.

With both officials, Chollet spoke about dialogue being mediated by the European Union, while ordering the parties to continue the important job of implementing the agreement towards normalising reports and asking the parties to avoid provocations.

The European Union brokers dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia since 2011. This process, which enjoys US support, aims to lead the parties towards full normalisation of reports.

On February 27th, Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels reached the Base Agreement towards normalisation of reports, and on March 18th, the Aneks of implementation of this agreement agreed in Ohrid.

The agreement, of 11 provisions, does not specifically mention mutual recognition, but requires the parties to accept each other's documents and symbols, including passports, diplomas and license plates.

Also, the Ohrid Agreement requires that the parties implement all agreements reached so far in the dialogue on normalising relations, including that of forming the majority Serb municipalities in Kosovo, which the government in Pristina has so far rejected, with the argument that it could jeopardise the functionality of the state.

Kosovo and Serbia have reached two agreements for Association, in 2013 and 2015. But, the agreement on principles for establishing association, according to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, is not in full harmony with the highest judicial act of the state.

However, the Constitution has said it can be harmonised with legal acts.