Kosovo government insists on Croatian model for Association

This “level of self-enervation” is envisioned with an agreement Kosovo and Serbia reached in Ohrid on 19 March, aimed at normalising relations.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti presented his <x0nd division” for this purpose during a meeting he held with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, on 2 May in Brussels.

Draft-vision came in response to a draft status status for the majority Serb municipalities in Kosovo, which Kurti rejected, saying is not in line with the Kosovo Constitution.

Responding to the international community's added calls to come up with a concrete proposal for the establishment of the Association, Kosovo Government spokesman Progress Kryeziu was called at this very draft television.

“We believe our proposal enables us to build something new, just and useful for all”, he said.

“Tomorrow [May 11th], Prime Minister Kurti awaits at the [EU's] emissarin meeting for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav] Lajcak, who will discuss the road ahead and the upcoming meeting in Brussels”, Kryeziu added.

What is the Croatian model?

Draft-vision, according to Kurti, would provide members of the Serb community in Kosovo with opportunities to promote and protect their rights through “Self-information framework”, direct communication channels with the Government of Kosovo, as well as opportunities to finance from Kosovo and other countries, including Serbia.

This document, always according to Kurti, is based on Croatia's model for national minorities, on the model of the National Council of Serbs in Croatia (SNV) respectively.

As he writes on his official website, this Council “is a non-profit legal person”. It has its own seal and symbols, which are created in line with the Croatian Constitutional Law on the Rights of National Minorities. It also has the chairmanship, assembly, board overseer, president and council.

Some of the goals of the National Council of Serbs in Croatia include: promoting and realising rights in the field of culture, education, economy and other interests of Serbs, as well as protecting national, cultural, linguistic and religious identity.

The statue specifys that this council operates in the field of human rights, religious rights and freedoms, the development of the local community, sustainable development, rural development and agriculture, etc.

It co-operates with state, central and local institutions, with government and non-governmental organisations and institutions, as well as with international organisations.

Members of this council are representatives of the Serbian national minority. It is financed by the Croatian budget, but also by means of international organisations and institutions, donations, personal revenues, EU funds and other arrangements that are in line with Croatian law.

According to the Government of Kosovo, the Croatian model has been chosen for the fact that Kosovo with Croatia “have shared a joint past” with the case of the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Moreover, such a model has been accepted in the past by Serbia. Therefore, we believe that constitutes proper reference for the road forward in relation to Serbia”, said spokesman For Progress Kryeziu.

Reactions Regarding Association Issue

European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborship Affairs, Oliver Varhely, said on Tuesday that the draft status draft for Association, which was presented by a so-called Ekip Manager, on May 2nd in Brussels, should be the starting point in discussions on the establishment of the Serb majority municipalities' association.

The “must be implemented all obligations from the dialogue, without delays and unconditional conditions, including those from the 2013 and 2015 agreements on establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities”, he said during a debate on Kosovo held at the European Parliament.

The United States' special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said on May 3rd that “work for the establishment of association has begun, but that “must constantly be pushed forward until a” model is achieved.

This process is important and it is very important that both sides, especially Kosovo, take it seriously and move in an accelerated way to complete it”, Escobar said at an online media conference.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on Wednesday against the draft status body presented by the Management Team, comprised of four members of the Serb community.

The initial “Picka should be the Constitution of Kosovo. No Serbia's proposal aimed at creating another republic of [Bosnian Serb entity leader Milorad] Dodik, or worse, in the region”, Osmani said in a conversation with the Atlantic Council in Washington.

According to her, the Kosovo Government's <x0-vision division has introduced the parameters, on which the statute could be formed and which is in line with the Constitution and decisions of the Constitution”.

And, Minister for Communities and Return to the Government of Kosovo Nenad Rassic said he sees as a positive step that Kurti has come up with his <x0vision for regulating the position and rights of the Serb community in Kosovo”.

The statute preparation process has begun. This is the most positive thing at this moment...”, Rassic said.

Kosovo and Serbia are in negotiations on normalising relations since 2011.

The agreement on the Association of Serb-run municipalities was reached in 2013, but has never been implemented.

Serbia has insisted on broad competencies for this association, while Kosovo has said such ones would jeopardise the functioning of the state. / REL