Swedish Ambassador: Association poses no threat to Kosovo

Sweden's ambassador to Kosovo, Johannes Westerlund, has said all agreements between the Kosovo and Serbian sides should be implemented at the same time. According to him, association does not pose a threat to Kosovo.

The international community is constantly insisting that Kosovo take steps towards establishing the Serb majority municipalities' Association.

This issue is even seen as a condition on condition for the Republic of Kosovo.

But Swedish Ambassador to Kosovo Jonas Westerlund in an interview for Tv1 says there must be a sequence plan for the Ohrid Agreement.

According to him, all agreements should be implemented at the same time and not only the focus on the issue of association.

There are differences of opinion on the Ohrid Agreement whether you should sign it or not. EU mediator for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has underlined several times that there is no need for signing the Ohrid Agreement. However, I agree with the Kosovo government when they say there should be a sequence plan. You cannot handle only one issue from the Ohrid Agreement and say we will initially implement this. There should be a sequence plan and to implement all agreements at the same time”, the Swedish ambassador said.

On the other hand, Westerlund speaks critical of those who say the Association of Bosnia and Kosovo.

It even says that forming association in any form poses no danger to the state of Kosovo.

The association with Republika Srpska is unfair because the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is quite different. Some 30% Serbs live in Bosnia, so it's another situation. I believe it's time to move money with the establishment of the Serb majority communities Association because it poses no threat to the state of Kosovo. Progress must be made in normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia”.

For the European diplomat, the security situation remains sensitive in the northern part of the country until all issues are resolved.

The “will probably have a new envoy in the dialogue process, so it's time to make an assessment and maybe we should focus more on the timetable for which some things should agree on certain dates. The security situation remains sensitive unless all issues are resolved in the northern part of the country”, Westerlund said.

The EU has expressed disappointment with Kosovo and Serbia that have not done enough to implement the agreements reached within the dialogue.