Szunyog: EU willing to lift measures, but expects Kosovo to do more for deespass

The EU chief in Kosovo, Thomas Szunyog, has said that the Union is willing to lift punitive measures against Kosovo, but as a condition Kosovo should do more to intensify the situation.

He said it is very clear both for Kosovo and Serbia what these two states are expected to do on the road to normalising relations.

The European Union discussed the issue of measures, so it is part of the discussion on enlargement in December last year, the enlargement conclusions were approved by the General Council on December 3rd last year. Those conclusions are available to read and you can see that the EU is ready to lift the measures, but it also expects Kosovo to do more for escalation and there is no deadline. I think our policy has become quite clear since June 3rd when we clearly formulated what we expect from both sides”, he said in a statement on public television.

The European Union in late June last year had communicated to the Kosovo government the news of the deployment of punitive measures with the argument that Kosovo has taken the necessary steps to reduce tensions in the country's north, which began on May 26th, when the new Kosovo Albanian leaders, Zubin Potok and Leposaviqi, entered the municipal buildings under the hand of Kosovo Police.

Kosovo and the EU later agreed in Bratislava with four provisions Kosovo must implement to remove measures. Among them is the suspension of the situation and the holding of elections in the four northern municipalities. For the latter, procedure has already been initiated with the signing of petitions to dismiss current mayors.

Kosovo leaders have consistently described the measures as unfair and say the situation is already tense.