TIRANA – The Assembly of Kosovo has given the authority to the government to head the expected talks with Serbia, according to Kosovo media. The ruling was made by the votes of 57 lawmakers with 5 abstentions. Opposition did not take part in the deliberations.
According to the resolution adopted on Sunday after midnight, the government is urged to make preparations for negotiations without violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.
The EU-mediated Pristina-Belgrade dialogue has been suspended since November 2018 when Kosovo government headed by Ramush Haradinaj decided to impose a 100 per cent tax on Serbian and Bosnian goods.
The resolution proposed by the two coalition parties, the Self-determination Movement (Levizja per Vetevendosje) and the Democratic League of Kosovo, was voted although the opposition continued its boycott.
The head of the LDK parliamentary group, Arben Gashi, has said the objective is to reach a final agreement on mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia within the frame of the current borders.
“State sovereignty, territorial integrity and unitary state character of the Republic of Kosovo are inviolable. No one has the right to negotiate, to dialogue or to negotiate on the sovereignty, the territorial integrity, the constitutional order and unitary character of Kosovo,” he said.
A land swap between Kosovo and Serbia had been a controversial issue causing frictions amidst the political class in this Balkan country as some key figures like President Hashim Thaci are mentioned as promoters of that initiative together with Serb President Vucic.
The resolution was originally introduced on Wednesday, but the opposition boycotted the deliberations on it, demanding that the continuation of dialogue with Serbia be coordinated with Western allies US and European Union.
The West continues to exert pressure on official Pristina for the removal of the 100% tax and resumption of the dialogue, but Prime Minister Albin Kurti insists this is a process that should happen gradually.
Assembly reviewed also under expedited procedures a 2.4 billion euro package to cope with the coronavirus epidemic, which has gripped Kosovo, too./argumentum.al/
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