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By:
Valbona Bytyqi
- 12 January 2024 20:19
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Of the four mayors of the municipalities in the north, only Leposavic exercises his duties in the municipality building. And Germany has conditioned the lobbying for the removal of the measures that the EU has imposed on Kosovo with the relocation of this president to an alternative office. In an answer to TIME, the Embassy emphasized that the Government has already taken commendable steps to alleviate the situation in the north. The removal of the measures was requested of the rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon, in the meetings she held on Friday night in Pristina
The relocation of the mayor of Leposaviq from the municipal building to an alternative office is a condition for Germany to advocate that the European Union (eu) remove the punitive measures from Kosovo.
In a written response, the German Embassy in Pristina spoke on Friday in the majority when it referred to the relocation of the mayors to the north, but only one of the four is in the municipal office.
"The government of Kosovo has already taken commendable steps to mitigate the situation. It has reduced the presence of special units of the Kosovo Police in the vicinity of municipal facilities. It has also introduced an administrative instruction to define the process towards holding new elections in the four northern municipalities. The request that mayors should temporarily perform their duties in facilities other than municipal buildings has not been implemented", says the response of Christian Bottcher, head of communication at the German Embassy.
The embassy praised Kosovo for dealing professionally with the attack in Banjska and for improving coordination and cooperation with KFOR and EULEX. Meanwhile, he announced that Germany will advocate for the end of EU measures, based on further steps from Kosovo.
"We call on the Government of Kosovo and the mayors of the four municipalities to refrain from controversial decisions that alienate the local population. Germany will advocate for the end of the measures on the basis of further steps from Kosovo", says the Embassy's response.
At the beginning of the week, the EU said that the measures will be lifted when it is assessed that "appropriate steps have been taken to escalate the situation in the north".
However, the European bloc did not show what the actions are, which were not undertaken by Kosovo, nor if there are any new requests.
The Government did not speak about the European position on the steps towards the escalation of the situation in the north. However, they have reiterated the position that the obligations have been fulfilled and that they are awaiting the report of the high representative of the EU, Josep Borrell, to ascertain the fulfillment of the measures.
During the week in Brussels, they said that this year brings hope for the implementation of agreements between Kosovo and Serbia.
But, according to law professor Flamur Hyseni, the process has taken a different direction since the attack in Banjska. According to him, the dialogue should not continue as long as the measures against Kosovo are in force.
"The Government of Kosovo should demand equal treatment in the dialogue process and without bias from the EU. Again with this request, the EU is being unfair to Kosovo. It cannot be declared optimistic and demand the return of the parties to the negotiating table, while Kosovo is being asked for something extra to the dialogue process, plus the measures/sanctions are still in force", said Hyseni.
According to him, the optimism of the European bloc for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has never brought concrete results.
Professor Hyseni criticized the official Brussels for the unilateral approach, as he said, in favor of Serbia.
"The EU has shown disrespect to the state and the Constitution of Kosovo, by offering a draft statute of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority, which seriously violates the internal state and constitutional regulation of the Republic of Kosovo," he said.
The lifting of the measures on Thursday was also requested by the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, during the press conference with Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
The removal of the measures was requested of the rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament, Viola von Cramon, in the meetings she held on Friday night in Pristina
According to the announcement from the Presidency, in the meeting with him, President Vjosa Osmani called the measures unfair, and emphasized that they create an imbalance in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
"On this occasion, President Osmani spoke about the importance of the EU moving forward in relation to Kosovo by granting it the status of a candidate country. Likewise, President Osmani emphasized once again the importance of removing the EU measures, which are still in force, reiterating the injustice of this decision as well as the imbalance they create in the positioning of the parties in the dialogue. In connection with this issue, President Osmani confirmed that Kosovo remains a party committed to the full implementation of the agreements", the announcement of the Presidency states.
According to the announcement, the meeting discussed the latest developments in Kosovo, especially security and the work of Kosovo's institutions in terms of the EU integration journey. There was also talk about the potential impact of this year's European elections in Kosovo.
Viola von Cramon also met the leader of the largest opposition party.
The chairman of the Democratic Party, Memli Krasniqi, wrote on Facebook that he asked the rapporteur for Kosovo in the European Parliament to advocate for the lifting of EU sanctions against Kosovo.
During the meeting with Von Cramon on Friday, Krasniqi said that the citizens of Kosovo should not be unfairly penalized as a "consequence of the political irresponsibility of the incompetent government".
"Together we discussed the political and security developments in our country, not leaving aside the European Integration process of Kosovo. I thanked the rapporteur von Cramon for the continuous support that the European Parliament in general, but also she in particular, has given to the visa liberalization process for the citizens of Kosovo", wrote Krasniqi.
The EU announced in July 2023 punitive measures against the Government of Kosovo, because no actions have been taken to reduce tensions in the north. The EU has temporarily suspended work within the Stabilization-Association Agreement and Kosovo will also not be invited to high-level meetings, except for those related to dialogue.
The programming of funds for Kosovo within the IPA 2024 program has also been put on hold. The proposals submitted by Kosovo within the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WIBF) have not been submitted for review to the WBIF Board on June 29-30.
The measures against Kosovo were decided after the tensions created, with the new mayors taking office in the four municipalities in the north, inhabited mainly by Serbs.