European Union and US envoys Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar told Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti that the situation in the north has to de-escalate before fresh local elections are held.
He recalled that sanctions on Kosovo are mentioned in a declaration by all EU member states waiting for a report from the envoys.
A press release by the Kosovo government said that Kurti exchanged views on the situation with Lajcak and Escobar as well as on ideas to de-escalate the situation in the north and the urgent need to implement the EU-proposed Basic Agreement and Implementation Annex.
“The Prime Minister said that the only way is to immediately stop the attacks by violent extremists and criminal groups on domestic and international security agencies and journalists. He called Brussels and Washington to call for an end to the violence and the processing and punishment for its perpetrators,” the press release said.
Escobar told reporters that the only request was for the international community to be heard and recalled that the US, EU and NATO made the same requests. The US envoy condemned the violence against KFOR troops in Zvecan and added that he is trying to find a formula for harmony among ethnic groups.
The Special US Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said today that if Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti did not accept three conditions for calming the situation in the north of Kosovo, then it meant that he did not want cooperation with the EU and the US and that this could not go without consequences, Ekonomia Online reports.
The United States of America and the EU expect to reach an agreement on calming the situation in the north, i.e. the fulfillment of the three demands of the international community that Escobar and the EU Envoy for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak presented to Kurti at the meeting – de-escalation on the ground, the holding of elections in the north as soon as possible and a return to dialogue and process normalization.
Escobar added that the US, the European Union, and all international partners had a common position on calming down and normalizing the situation, and if that did not happen, then the consequences for Kosovo would be long-term.
He stated that they were not aimed at the people of Kosovo, because, as he said, America had excellent relations with the citizens and that Washington would always be with them regardless of who was in power.
Escobar also pointed out that the Government of Kosovo should immediately present the draft of the CSM statute.
“Community will be formed, the only question is with whom,” Escobar said.
He said that if Kosovo and Serbia did not adhere to the Brussels Agreement, then they rejected the EU.
He added that Aleksandar Vucic could not have the right of veto when elections were held in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, and added that that window would close if Kosovo formed the CSM.
/Argumentum.al
