Sweden's Ambassador Westerlund urges Kosovo to submit association draft to Constitutional

He stresses the need for the Kosovo government to move forward even with the establishment of the Serb majority municipalities' association. According to him, the Kosovo executive should submit to the Constitutional Court, the draft association state drafted by the European Union.

Westerlund in an interview for Kosovo Press, also expresses support for Kosovo's Euro-integration path to the European Union, as well as Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. It also speaks of the situation in northern Kosovo and the opening of the Ibri Bridge. Swedish diplomat says the Brussels agreement and the Ohrid annex are legally binding for Kosovo and Serbia, so obligations should be implemented without delay.

Well, the official line of the EU at the moment is certainly that the Brussels and Ohrid agreements are legally binding and they must be implemented as soon as possible, and the AKS must be implemented as soon as possible. And the next step is that the European Union is recommending to the Government of Kosovo that the draft status of the AKS is handing over the Constitutional Court here in Kosovo. Then again, we have new commissioners coming, in Brussels, we have a new team in Brussels, they have to take a look at this current situation and see if they can come with new ideas to find a” solution, he says.

Westerlund for Kosova Press also provides numerous models for the way to establish the Association of Serb majority municipalities. So, I mean, the European Union's official line of this is that there is an obligation for the Government of Kosovo, all in 2013, but also in last year's Brussels and Ohrid agreements that should establish this. And I think it would also be good for Kosovo to do this...06:15 Models are full. I think Mr. Miroslav Lajcak has mentioned that there are over 40 minorities and 40 kinds of organisations in Europe, one may be. I was myself part of creating a similar structure in Croatia in the 1990s, you can never compare a conflict with another conflict, so nothing is really similar in that sense. But in the past in Croatia, in the 1990s, I was part of the establishment of the Serb National Council, and this seems to have worked very well in Croatia, and this was agreed on by Belgrade. There are many examples in Europe that can be copied. I don't think that the example of the Republika Serpska, it's a 100 per cent accurate necessity, because this is a different situation and you have a much smaller population of Kosovo Serbs if you are likened to the Serbs living in Bosnia”, Westerlund points out.

As for the security situation in the north, the Swedish ambassador says the same is still fragile, as it speaks of the terrorist attack in Banjska last year.

However, he also sees the need for Serbs to return to institutions in the north. According to him, it was a serious misappreciation of Serbs in the north who did not participate in local elections and in the referendum on the departure of current mayors in the four northern municipalities.

I certainly condemn the Banjska incident. We have to get back to the situation we were in before November 5, 2022. Many Kosovo Serbs in northern Kosovo think the situation is tense. They also think there is a lack of trust between Kosovo Serbs and most institutions, including the Kosovo Police. I think it's important to return to a situation where municipal mayors are representatives of their local population. That you have the police representing the local population in the four northern municipalities. This, of course, means that the local population should participate in local elections. I think it was a serious misappreciation of Kosovo Serbs not to participate in local elections and participate in the referendum for mayors, in all four municipalities, but we must look forward. I think we need to resolve the current situation and have better representation by local population”, he points out. Westerlund also says that the Ibri Bridge should be opened, but for such a thing the government must co-ordinate with residents on both sides of the river and continue dialogue.

It also sets the example of maritime tolerance until it mentions the need to restore mosques in northern Mitrovica.

We said the bridge should be opened. The question is how and when, of course. I believe the bridge should be opened, but it should be done in consultation with the population on both sides of the river, but we must continue the dialogue... I think it's important that this dialogue be among the local population, it's not just the normalisation dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, but it's also at a local level, and especially in Mitrovica on both sides of the river. So we need to promote tolerance and unity, and I think one of the ways is to have local dialogue between the local population there... so if you can work with a local dialogue and discuss how we can clean up the river, bilateral issues, including the restoration of the mosque. The mosque, which was built in 1777 and then destroyed in 1999, I think it will be a large symbol of Mitrovica to restore that mosque”, he says.

In addition, he declares that Kosovo will greatly benefit from the European Union's Growth Plan for Western Balkan countries.