EU: Kosovo with unilateral actions is inciting tensions and ignoring coordination with allies

Updated 14:16 - The European Union has strongly reacted to the Kosovo police operation against the buildings of the Postal Savings Bank of Serbia in the north of the country, calling it evidence that Kosovo "gives priority to unilateral and uncoordinated actions more than cooperation with friends and allies." ". This is stated in a communique issued on behalf of the EU by its spokesman for foreign policy and security Peter Stano.

"Monday's operations prove once again that the Kosovo authorities give priority to unilateral and uncoordinated actions more than cooperation with friends and allies on the ground", this communiqué states. "The closure and confiscation of these facilities without a warning and without coordination only a few days after the last dialogue meeting, in which it was also discussed  the issue of  facilities of the Postal Savings Bank, is an escalation and goes against the spirit of normalization while also damaging the good will of Kosovo for achieving the normalization of relations through dialogue".

According to this communique, the EU spokesperson says that this proves how  the uncoordinated actions of one party put the implementation of the Agreement on the road to the normalization of relations at risk.

"The operation of the Kosovo Police also harms the ongoing negotiations to reach a temporary solution for the negatively affected people  from the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo for cash operations. In the constant absence of a stable alternative, this will have negative consequences for the Serbs  Kosovo and other communities that accept financial transfers from Serbia", it is said here.

The EU reiterates the position expressed several times before that the status of parallel structures, which the EU calls "structures supported by Serbia" should be resolved through the establishment of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority.

At the end of the communique, the EU invites Kosovo and Serbia to return to the dialogue table and agree on the latest proposal of  EU facilitator Miroslav Lajcak who, according to the EU, will  enable beneficiaries who accept transfers from Serbia to continue receiving them.
 

The spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, has described as useless the action of the Kosovo Police in the north on Monday, for the closure of six units of the Postal Savings Bank.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Stano said that the European Union will respond soon to the event.

"It was a very useless event. Our official reaction will be released early in the afternoon," he said.

On Monday, the Kosovo Police closed six units of the Postal Savings Bank in the north, which have been operating illegally since the post-war period. About 1.6 million euros were confiscated in them.

Through the Savings Bank, salaries, payments for social schemes and other benefits that Serbia distributes to Kosovo Serbs are distributed in dinars.

The action was taken a few days after the seventh meeting in Brussels to find a solution regarding the dinar among the Serbian community failed. 

According to the CBK regulation, which was approved in February of this year, the currency in which cash payments can be made is only euros.

The American State Department also reacted to the action, describing the action as an escalation of tensions. 

The Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, said that every action was based on legality.

Britain, concerned with yesterday's police action, calls for coordination

The Embassy of Great Britain in Kosovo has expressed concern about yesterday's action by the Kosovo Police in the north, where six offices of the Postal Savings Bank of Serbia were closed. 
The police in coordination with the Tax Agency of Kosovo seized about 1.6 million euros. 

"We are concerned that yesterday's police actions in the north of Kosovo risk escalating tensions and make it more difficult to reach a long-term solution to the issue of currency in Kosovo. We encourage the Kosovo authorities to coordinate actions with international partners and engage more constructively in the EU-facilitated dialogue to resolve such issues," said the response of the British Embassy in Kosovo posted on Facebook.