Osmani: We shouldn't fall into the Vucciki trap.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has said on Wednesday that the dialogue process with Serbia should not be used “to normalise Serbia's” President Aleksandar Vuciq.

Let's be honest. We're talking about an autism. We are facing a state that has never apologized for the genocide committed against my people, but Kosovo, at the same time, has extended the hand of co-operation to be constructive and engaged. Over 40 agreements have been signed in Brussels, and Serbia's list of violations on the part is very long”, Osmani said, in a conversation with the Atlantic Council in Washington.

The Atlantic Council is an American institute that deals with international issues.

Asked about the importance of forming the Association of Serb-run municipalities, President Osmani has said much caution should be taken on the road that the dialogue can take.

“text has attempts to make that topic more important than others, I think this is a very dangerous way to the future of dialogue. We should not fall into Vuciqi's trap, which means only delay and procrastination of the process. Serbia does not care about the Serb minority, but only cares about having an instrument through which it can challenge Kosovo's sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

She's been commenting on it. draft status for Association, presented on May 2nd by an managing team, within high-level dialogue between the two countries.

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... while the government's draft division has introduced the parameters on which the statute could be formed and which is in accordance with the Constitution and decisions of the Constitution”, she has said.

On May 2nd, within the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, the draft status candidate for Association, compiled by an management team consisting of four members of the Serb community, has been introduced in Brussels.

This team was fired a day later by Kosovo authorities.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that the proposed draft status quo is “currently incompatible with the country's constitutionality”.

As a response, he has later presented a draft-vision, which, according to him, regulates the issue of non-US communities in Kosovo.

Kurti's document says, among other things, that he will offer the possibility to members of the Serb community in Kosovo to promote and protect their rights through “self-responsive”, a direct channel of communication with the Government of Kosovo, as well as opportunities to be financed by Kosovo and other countries, including Serbia.

Kosovo and Serbia have reached agreement on Association in 2013, and later 2015 on principles for its establishment.

But in 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has found that the agreement is not in full harmony with the Constitution.

Serbia wants Kosovo to implement the agreements reached, but the current Kosovo government has been declared against a single-ethnic association.

Some sources in Brussels have told Radio Free Europe days ago that establishing the Association of Major Serb municipalities in Kosovo is “condition on all conditions” in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia for normalisation of relations.

Support for Partnership for Peace Membership

During the conversation, Osmani has welcomed ties with the United States, saying the US is Kosovo's main partner in NATO.

Kosovo has received guarantees from the partners, which if we agree with provisions of agreements reached in Brussels and Ohrid, a point at which it will receive much support, relates to Partnership for Peace membership”.

Partnership for Peace is a programme of NATO, aimed at building confidence between NATO member states and other states in Europe.

The Kosovo government has said it has only formed a working group for membership in this programme.

The United States has supported Kosovo's membership in realising this goal, though it has recalled that reconciliation of the Alliance's 30 member states is required for such a decision.

Of the 30 NATO member states, Kosovo as an independent state has recognised 26 of them, while four (Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) have not yet.

West not allowing vacuum for Russia, China in the Balkans

Asked about the potential impact of Russia's war on Ukraine in the Balkan region, Osmani has said that war affects all people in Europe.

“Why is the Western Balkans the most important in this regard? I would say that, historically, Russia has shown interest in using that part of Europe to destabilise the rest of Europe”.

It has estimated that it is very important that the West does not allow vacuum, which could then be exploited by Russia and China in the Balkan region.

When we analyze Russia's role, we can never analyze separateness from the way Serbia behaves. The latter is just a copy of [Russian president Vladimir's] actions. Putin. Although Vucinac occasionally speaks well, he never lives them. He does exactly the opposite. He has increased co-operation with Russia, in the military, in the field of economics and politics, the regime there is autocratic, without media freedom, of expression, without civil society, and the entire criminal network is being used to destabilise neighbouring countries”.

The war in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the war “special military operation” to demilitarise Ukraine.

The West has responded to Russia, striking the economy of this state with severe sanctions.

Serbia is the only Western Balkan country that has not joined Western sanctions against Russia.