Can the removal of EU measures towards Kosovo be difficult? Borrell's report is expected

It has been done nearly a year since the European Union has imposed punitive measures on Kosovo, but few are known who has largely been damaged by the decision.

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi had said in January this year that on the political level, the measures are limited only to high-level meetings with representatives of Kosovo institutions.

“has been banned from the assessment and adoption of new Kosovo applications in the Western Balkans' framework for investment, which means that no project has been banned from Kosovo, but new applications have yet to be approved, and new procurements of projects stemming from IPA 2023 have been banned [ Pre-Accession Instruments], and have not begun discussions about IPA 2024. No existing procurements” have been affected, Bislimi said.

European Union spokesman Peter Stano has said that the authorities in Kosovo are well informed “of which measures are heavy on Kosovo, citing IPA funds 2024, the investment framework for the Western Balkans and meetings for the SAA, but without offering more details.

The decision on the move has been made on the argument that Kosovo has not done enough to reduce tensions in the country's north, in May and June of last year.

Details on the masses have not been disclosed even when they have been communicated. In fact, something like that is not common to the EU.

Example, when the EU has decided to sanction Russia for the war launched in Ukraine in 2022, the European Commission has voted for them, and has voted, and will vote every year for their postponement.

The decision mentions each individual by name and the affected Russian entity.

In the case of Kosovo, the measures have not been voted out with the excuse that they are temporary. It is only said that the European Commission is responsible for them, and therefore are without any deadline.

How can measures be taken?

Several weeks after the deployment of the measures, the EU had reached agreement with Kosovo on extending the situation to the north in exchange for lifting measures.

Among the main demands have been to reduce police presence in and around municipal buildings in northern Kosovo and organise new elections. Kosovo authorities have said they have fulfilled both.

Currently, European Union top diplomat Josep Borrell is drafting a report about the steps Kosovo has taken to remove the measures. But recently it has become known that even this year's May police operations in the northern part will be involved, which have resulted in the closure of several facilities of Serbia's Post Savings Bank.

Both the EU and the United States have criticised Kosovo for these shares, considering <x0 packaged and unilaterally co-ordinated”.

As a result, there are voices in the EU that believe the process of lifting measures against Kosovo will now be difficult.

But at the same time, some sources have told him REL has also been angry EU member states, believing the measures have gone beyond expectations.

What do Kosovo officials say?

Everybody wants to take off the measures.

Finance Minister Iron Murati said days ago that because of the lack of EU funds, as a result of the measures, Kosovo has been forced to allocate additional funds to a project that benefits minorities.

Klisman Kadiu, from Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi's office, says the situation in the north has been intensified and the measures no longer make sense.

According to him, any other findings in Borrell's report, “would be unfair, would constitute distorting developments on the ground and necessarily unilateral and pointless misuse of measures by the EC”.

Other government officials in Kosovo also insist the measures are unfair.

They often draw parallels with the deployment of EU measures towards Kosovo and the failure to impose measures on Serbia for the deadly attack on Zvecan Banjska in September last year.

Kosovo blames Serbia for the attack, which it calls a terrorist. Belgrade rejects these accusations.

The European Union has said it is awaiting a detailed report by Kosovo justice authorities to make a decision later, reports Radio Free Europe.