Varhely: Management Team Proposal, Starting in Discussions for Association

Draft-state for Association has been introduced on 2 May in Brussels, under the summit in dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

The document has been compiled by an management team consisting of four members of the Serb community.

This team was fired a day later by Kosovo authorities.

The EU has said that this decision is contrary to “exhalation and text of agreements“. In the debate on Kosovo, held Tuesday in the European Parliament, Varhely has said that the establishment of association is the obligation stemming from dialogue agreements.

The “must be implemented all obligations from the dialogue, without delays and unconditional conditions, including from the 2013 and 2015 agreements on the establishment of the Serb majority municipalities' Association. As the special representative for the dialogue [Miroslav Lajcak] underlined the draft proposal presented at the latest meeting by the Manager Team, it is the starting point for further discussions on establishing association“. Prime Minister Kurti has said that the proposed draft status body is the country's “currently incompatible with 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”, direct communication channel 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.

During the debate at the European Parliament, Varhely has said the European Commission welcomes the decision on visa liberalisation for Kosovo. EU institutions have made the decision that Kosovo citizens can travel visa-free to the Schengen Zone countries on January 1st, 2024.

Kosovo's “government has taken a clear position in terms of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and we welcome this. Kosovo must improve the legal framework for continuing the fight against organised crime and corruption, including confiscating illegally created property“. According to him, the judiciary is still not efficient enough and there are unnecessary political interference.

Among other things, Varhely has expressed readiness to continue helping Kosovo in the energy sector. (Rel)