Peace over lifting measures against Kosovo or not

Even though it did not have a formal date, this week it was expected that the EU High Representative's report of foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, should be published about meeting Kosovo's conditions for removing EU measures towards it.

Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi has even said on Thursday that European Union for Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell's report on steps Kosovo has made in meeting the obligations for removing EU measures, “will be recommended to lift Kosovo's<x1 perversity measures.

But there has been silence on the issue in the European Union.

As Radio Free Europe reported yesterday, Borrell's report on measures towards Kosovo could be postponed for next week.

According to this report, the presentation of this report is now expected to be at the EU's Policy and Security Committee meeting (PSC) on 19 June. But this too is just <x1-tentative” because there can be no guarantee that this will happen.

State leaders have consistently called on last month to lift EU punitive measures. Prime Minister Albin Kurti and other Kosovo officials have consistently said Kosovo has met the conditions for lifting EU punitive measures.

Kosovo demanded a vocal removal of measures after organising the vote on the departure of mayors in the north, which was one of the EU requirements.

The initiative for the removal of Albanian mayors in northern Kosovo failed after insufficient numbers of votes were not reached after the Serb boycott. Only a few hundred Serbian citizens, out of about 45 thousand eligible voters, participated in the referendum in four municipalities in northern Kosovo aimed at leaving Albanian mayors.

The European Union estimated that the outcome of the vote in the north does not contribute to the reduction of the situation.

The EU had stated that the EU High Representative's report on Kosovo is towards finalisation and that the removal of measures will depend on this report and member states.

The European Commission had imposed punitive measures on Kosovo a year earlier due to the escalation of the security situation in the north.

The measures set by the EU towards Kosovo included: the temporary suspension of working groups for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Kosovo's failure at high-level meetings and the suspension of bilateral visits.

Also suspended was Kosovo's funding programming, which were meant to be delivered through the Western Balkans Investment Framework and IPA 2024 ( Pre-Accession Intrusions).