Rohde: Kosovo not required to have final decision for Association

Germany's ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, has been talking about the matter of commenting in recent years, which has to do with establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities.

Rohde has said it is not required for Kosovo to have a final decision on association.

“We have said to be sent to the Constitutional Court so that the Court can control whether it is in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, this is the first step. That would be enough to make membership in the Council of Europe very soon because, as he said those meetings cannot be called up very often for the vote, and this has been clarified some time ago, without this step there is no guarantee for the majority, and the failed vote would be catastrophic. So we want Kosovo to be positive, we want to have it on the Council of Europe, but that Kosovo has to do its jobs, and that's expected from the side, so when Kosovo enters the organisation every citizen can be run as an individual to the European Court for Human Rights, whether for pension rights or against other countries, this is therefore a house duty that has not been carried out from our standpoint”, Rohde said.

He has said that whoever wins the elections will have the challenge of dialogue.

“Of course the election or pre-election campaign is not that they are stimulating for dialogue because normally everyone focuses on the elections, but it is not that they will be left out, whoever wins the elections will have the same challenge”, he told RTK.

He said that we now have the energy guide in action and that it's a good thing there's not much news in that direction.

And we've already had elections in Europe recently, and the Commission will be established soon, so I don't think there will be any achievements, but we have to stay on the right path and that's the most important thing not to get off track. Globally there are many unfortunate events like the Russian aggression that is still continuing in Ukraine, fighting in Gaza now in Lebanon, so I think we should focus on achieving results. There is no direct comparison here, but there is no need for political decisionmakers who face this case, this opportunity and fulfill their responsibilities so that the region can push towards the EU”, the German diplomat said.

Rohde said it is very clear that with the Ohrid Agreement, Kosovo cannot be blocked by membership in any kind of international organisation. However, there is a impasse at the moment, and EU representative Miroslav Lajcak is trying hard to make progress on smaller issues, though it is currently difficult.

He has said the biggest challenge for him was yesterday's comments by Serbia's president.

To start with dialogue, it takes two sides that have the will to compromise, that policy from time to time has to create the climate that is extenuating, that is, two sides that are ready to compromise and in dialogue we have not reached perhaps at that stage, so on the one hand we need Kosovo to move forward in terms of the association of Serb majority municipalities, and then Serbia has nine four”, the German diplomat said.

Rohde said Germany stands and will continue to stand alongside Kosovo.

The German ambassador asked whether this even guarantees Kosovo's participation in the Berlin Process meeting to be held next week, the German diplomat believes Kosovo's prime minister will be in Berlin on Monday.

According to him, this is a good day not only for the Berlin Process, but for the parties involved in the process.

There is also a reason to mark and celebrate in the sense that together we can achieve things considering that this happens on the 10th anniversary of the Berlin Process that has been initiated by former caceplaria Angela Merkel. This shows that Germany stands, has stood and will continue to stand by Kosovo and in other words take the next step. Our envoy Sarazin has been here for the last eight times probably in the region in a very short period and has indeed been obsessed with reaching this”, he stressed.
According to him, much debate has taken place until compromise is reached.

Asked whether Germany was seriously going to continue without Kosovo if this compromise was not made with CEFTA and the Berlin Process because Mr. Sarazin, if there is no compromise, will continue even without Kosovo, the German diplomat said the challenge was really very clear.

“Yes, the challenge was really very clear”, he said.

The German diplomat said he is really very happy that Kosovo and Serbia have agreed with this compromise.

Rohde has also talked about negotiating that has been made to reach the CEFTA agreement.

I must say that there are some factors, some parties and there is UNMIK, I will underline it, U n NMIK has always been very helpful, extenuating in the sense of reaching consensus between the sides, and that is important to stress, role of UNMIK has been and remains very constructive. Of course, there has been difficult or serious discussions, you have seen those interviews by our envoy for the Western Balkans, so I don't want to talk about the milk that has already been poured out, I want to focus on the future, it's a good day for Kosovo, for citizens, but also for the entire region as well, because it clearly shows that the Berlin Process can achieve success, and that the Open Balkans should no longer fill that vacuum when they cannot reach<1>, he said. /rtk/