OʹBrien requested Association in both Belgrade and Pristina

During his visit to the Balkans, US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia James O'Brien has called for respecting the agreements signed between Kosovo and Serbia.

In an interview for RTS in Belgrade, O'Brien stressed the importance of establishing association, citing that this process is part of agreements reached since 2013.

He demanded that the draft Association draft pass into consideration by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo to ensure compliance with local laws, adding that these obligations are present since 2015, when the agreement on principles for its establishment was signed.

“Association is an important step. It is important to mark progress even before the formation of association. It is important that people live normally, register marriages, children who are born, and work together. Obligations exist since 2015, when [the Association Agreement] was signed. I can't offer you a deadline, but the most important thing is that Serbs live like European citizens”, O'Brien said.

Meanwhile, even in an interview for Kanal 10 in Pristina, he reiterated his stance, demanding that there be concrete progress in this process and considering association as a key to the integration of Serbs into Kosovo structures.

“Sending association to Constitutional is the basic commitment. Not only do we expect it from Prime Minister Kurti, but there have been several previous prime ministers who did it, so we expect it from Kosovo... Associations are very common in Europe, as we know, there are over 400 such associations throughout Europe. The association does not create a government or another layer, but it is a mechanism for co-ordination, as we see in northern Italy or in the islands of Sweden or in Belgium”, has added OCEBrien.