Next week Borrell is expected to submit his report, will Kosovo be removed?

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, is expected next week to hand over the report on steps Kosovo has made in meeting the obligations for removing EU measures on it.

Such a report by the chief of EU diplomacy had called for member states to be assessed if conditions are ripe for Kosovo to be removed. These sources do not know exactly what the report will contain and if Borrell is to recommend lifting the measures.

The Kosovo government has insisted several times that it has met the requirements, and that the situation in northern Kosovo has been stressed, Kosovo Serbs have been able to vote for the dismissal of mayors and now, according to them, there are no more reasons to keep these measures.

This report was scheduled to surrender earlier because EU countries had demanded that this be done “as early as possible”, but had been postponed due to the actions of Kosovo authorities for closing the sites of Serbia's Post Savings Bank in the northern part of Kosovo.

On May 20th, authorities in Kosovo have conducted a police operation on Serbian financial institutions in northern Kosovo, resulting in the closure of six facilities of the Post and People's Bank of Serbia in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, inhabited by Serb majority.

During the action, which Kosovo authorities have described as a measure for setting “order and legitimacy”, various evidence has been confiscated, including money.

Radio Free Europe has learned from diplomatic sources that due to developments about closing Serbia's Post Savings Bank facilities, these actions are required to be taken into account in Borrell's report.

These actions of the Kosovo authorities were dubbed a unilateral and uncoordinated “with the potential to foster tensions”.

The “Masses were set as a result of Kosovo's uncoordinated and unilateral actions, which led to the escalation of the situation. The measures were set in order to motivate Kosovo authorities to take steps to stress. Of course, everything that has a negative impact on the ground, and in the bid for expansion, is being taken into account and is getting involved in the report“, the EU spokesman said.

When the debate over measures against Kosovo on the Committee for Political and Security, where the member states' diplomats are, most had proposed that those measures be completely removed while some states gradually removed. But now diplomats expect to see what will be included in Borrell's report so they can express their positions.

The measures towards Kosovo were imposed a year ago in response to the escalation of the security situation in northern Kosovo when Kosovo sent to the Albanian mayors' buildings, released by the elections that were boycotted by Serbs.

EU measures are among the provisional suspension of the work of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement troops. Kosovo, too, is not invited to high-level events and bilateral visits have been suspended, except for those focusing on addressing the crisis in northern Kosovo in the context of EU facilitated dialogue.

Other measures are suspension of Kosovo funding programming under IPA 2024 (Pre-membership funds).

Kosovo's “Proposals delivered under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) have not been submitted for review on board this fund. New contracts where Kosovo authorities are beneficial for now are halted.

Continued EU projects are not influenced, nor are civil society financing in Kosovo or cross-border programmes”, this spokesman has clarified. /rel/