a minute agoReuters: EU wants concrete steps from Kosovo to ease tensions before sanctions are lifted
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)EU countries have imposed punitive measures against Kosovo after Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government has not heard EU and US demands to calm the situation in the country's north following the worst conflict in ten years. The EU will not lift political and economic sanctions on Kosovo unless the government escalates [...]
The measures include banning visits by Kosovo officials to the EU and suspending most of the EU's economic assistance to the small Balkan republic, and Brussels has warned of further measures if Kurti does not take measures to reduce tensions.
My wish is to have no sanctions. The purpose of this mission, of course, and the discussion we are having is to reach the stage when these measures will be interrupted”, Lajcak said.
Kurti in the statement has stressed that he has told Lajcak that the EU's <x0) punitive measures towards Kosovo are unfair and make the asymmetric dialogue”.
Violence in northern Kosovo, the home of 50,000 Serbs erupted in late May after ethnic Albanian leaders took office following local elections boycotted by Serbs demanding implementation of a ten-year agreement on greater autonomy.
In clashes with Serb demonstrators, about 30 soldiers of NATO peacekeeping forces who were protecting three municipal buildings in northern Kosovo were seriously injured.
Lajcak said the EU also wants Serbia, which Serbs in northern Kosovo remain loyal to, 15 years after Kosovo declared independence, to act constructively to alleviate the crisis or face penalties.
The European Union has made it clear that there are sanctions ready for Serbia as well and that they will be implemented if member states decide Serbia does not meet the requirements of the EU”, Lajcak, who is in Belgrade today, said.
The United States and the European Union, Kosovo's main allies, mostly consider Kurti responsible for tensions in the north, because he placed four ethnic Albanian mayors in their offices with police protection, despite objections from local Serbs.
