The EU has yet to make a decision on the lifting of measures against Kosovo

In the European Union, they continue to say that the punitive measures against Kosovo, imposed in 2023, are temporary and that they can be removed, depending on the actions on the ground. According to officials in the European Commission, the agreement of all member states is necessary for the removal of the measures.

This is what the EU's spokesperson for foreign policy and security, Peter Stano, said on November 15.

"The answer is the same as last time. The issue is being considered in the Council and will be decided by the member countries regardless of when the new institutions will start their mandate", Stano answered the question of whether the punitive measures against Kosovo will be removed before the end of the mandate of the current European Commission. or will the composition of the new Commission be expected?

The fate of the recommendation made by the high representative for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, for the lifting of measures against Kosovo remains unclear, even though it is constantly being discussed in the EU working groups, where the member countries participate.

"There is no change in this direction," an EU diplomat told Radio Free Europe.

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According to EU diplomatic sources, in recent discussions on the subject, most member states have been in favor of lifting the measures, no one has been unequivocally against lifting them, but there have been differences about how and when such a thing will be done.

The EU imposed several punitive measures against Kosovo last year due to increased tensions in the north of Kosovo, inhabited by a majority of Serbs.

A group of member countries, according to diplomatic sources, has requested that all measures be lifted immediately. Meanwhile, another group has requested that the EU have a more balanced approach towards Kosovo and Serbia, because according to this group, keeping the measures in force against only one side is not the right approach. This group has pointed out that even Serbia has not done anything to bring to justice those responsible for the armed attack in Banjska of Zveçan in September 2023.

In September, a group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo Police, killing Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku. During the clashes that followed in Banjska, three Serbian attackers were also killed.

Kosovo has blamed Serbia for the attack, but Belgrade denies having a hand in it. The responsibility for the attack was taken by Millan Radoicic, former vice-president of the Serbian List, the main party of the Serbs in Kosovo that has the support of Belgrade. He is included in the indictment filed by Kosovo against dozens of people. Kosovo has asked Serbia to extradite Radoicic, while the EU and the United States have demanded that those responsible for the attack face justice.

Sources in the EU said that there is also a group of states that has said that "at this moment it would be counterproductive to remove all measures, given that the Kosovo authorities have continued to take unilateral and uncoordinated measures in the north".

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Diplomatic sources told Radio Free Europe that since Borrell recommended that member states lift the measures, the bloc's states are continuing to talk about the issue, but not moving towards lifting the measures, even gradually. These sources have said that in such circumstances only the gradual removal of some measures is possible, but not all. However, there is still no decision on the gradual lifting of the measures. These sources claim that even the European Commission is not very interested in lifting the measures. The European Commission in the last Progress Report for Kosovo has found that Kosovo has continued to undertake unilateral actions in the north which affect the increase in tensions.

The government of Kosovo, led by Albin Kurti, has undertaken several actions in the north, which have been criticized by the international factor. The Kosovo executive has banned the use of the Serbian dinar, has closed several branches of the Serbian post office, as well as parallel institutions, and has expressed its intention to open the bridge over the Iber River for traffic, for which it has been criticized as risking unrest and instability.