Pristina blames Belgrade as responsible for situation in northern Kosovo

On Friday, the Serbian president called for the return of the former situation in northern Kosovo, which is seen in Pristina as a requirement for undoing many actions promoted by Belgrade itself.

Whatever we believe is necessary, for any serious progress in dialogue, is holding local free and democratic elections in northern Kosovo, with the participation of the O mission The SEU and under the control of the European Union. Second, the implementation of Article 9 of Brussels' first agreement, meaning the formation of regional police directorate in the north”, President Vuciq said, seeking, among other things, the return of Serbian judges and prosecutors to their jobs. Serbian police, judges and prosecutors resigned in November 2022 in protest of the authorities' dismissal of a police officer in Pristina, following his refusal to implement orders pertaining to replacing Serbian car plates with Kosovo's.

Serbian president said the “Serbian institutions” in Kosovo “will not be abolished or shut down” and offices will be opened near the border with Kosovo where northern Kosovo Serbs will have access to social protection services. He also warned the establishment of the prosecution that will follow, as “said, all those who carry out the persecution of Serbs in Kosovo, including Serbs working for Albanian service”. He added that Serbia's parliament would declare all acts that have been adopted by Pristina in opposition to Brussels' agreements illegal and invalid.

In a Facebook network post, Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Grovalla said the Serbian president indicated he has no intention of halting the instrumentisation of Kosovo Serbs and their interests, exploiting them for daily politics and financial benefits. Gervala stressed that it was the Serbian president who had ordered their departure from jobs and boycotting local elections.

Being fully aware that the persons who are involved in criminal acts, crimes and violent acts in Kosovo, can already play no role in Kosovo's public and institutional life, is seeking a return to the previous situation, without even showing the reasons for the departure and boycott of institutions”, Minister Gervall wrote among other things.

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo Chairman Ramush Haradinaj wrote on Saturday that the burdened situation in northern Kosovo, the main responsibility is the Serbian president, who has sabotaged any initiative for establishing normality and integrating Serbs into the country's institutions.

His “demands are only the continuation of his fight against Kosovo”, Haradinaj wrote, while underlining that the ground for these anti-Kosovo actions of Serbia, supported by several international circles, has created the short-term policy of Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government. It has caused Serbia's fascist policy towards Kosovo to not look so bad, it added further.

Belgrade's demands followed the Kosovo government's actions to close parallel institutions in the north supported by Serbia at the end of August.

The decision prompted criticism from the United States and the European Union, due to concerns that tensions in Kosovo could lead to broader instability in the Balkans. Authorities in Serbia gathered European Union ambassadors on Saturday, before the start of what they called “a global diplomatic campaign” to meet Serbia's requirements.

Serbian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of the European Union member states, though accusing the West, of standing on Kosovo's side, said he would write on the demands.

European Union officials are urging Serbia and Kosovo to normalise their relations as a condition for progress towards membership in the bloc.

Serbia says its goal is integration into the European Union, but maintains close ties with Russia and China, which support its claims on Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 with Western support. /VOA