Power: Emergency for Establishing Association of Serb Major Cities

The director of the American Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, said on Thursday that it is clear that establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo is an essential step that must be taken to ensure the continuation of the normalisation process of relations between Kosovo and Serbia that must be concluded with mutual recognition.

Mrs. Power made these comments in a village near the municipality of Gjilan about 45 km east of Pristina on the first day of her visit to Kosovo.

The agreement is there, for example, urgent for the creation of the Association of Serb-run municipalities and we hope that the dialogue finally has a way of looking. Even though the parties still do not have common positions on what the mode will be, this is the first time this type of substantial engagement” is happening, Mrs. Power said, underlining that establishing association is something officials in Serbia consider very important.

The “therefore it is important now that the ideas are presented, to reach compromise so that the normalisation, which will eventually lead to final recognition, mutual recognition”, she said.

Mrs. Power said signing the declaration on missing persons is only one step to illuminate the fate of over 1,000 of the 600 people still missing.

“and as a member of President Joe Biden's National Security Council, I am also in the region to talk about, normalisation, the final agreement and the framework for normalisation that is very important to implement”, she said.

Mrs. Power went to Kosovo after a visit to Serbia, where he promised the United States support for Serbia and Kosovo, while the two wartime enemies work to stabilise relations at a time of increased tensions.

The European Union has spent 12 years facilitating negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but Serbia does not recognise its citizenship.

The two countries are told they must normalise relations in order to advance their goals of membership in the European Union. The sides have agreed to support an EU plan on the issue, but tensions remain high.