Brussels reprimands Kosovo for not establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities

Kosovo and Serbia marked no progress in the dialogue and Kosovo is expected to engage constructively in the negotiations on the legally-binding normalisation agreement in the coming period in order to make rapid and concrete progress.
This is the critical conclusion of the European Commission concluded in its 2021 Country Report on Kosovo. The report which was published Tuesday mentions establishment of the Association of Serb majority Municipalities and reaching of the final agreement with Serbia.
“During the reporting period, no further progress was achieved in the negotiations on the comprehensive and legally-binding normalisation agreement. Initial progress on the agreement had been made in 2020, when the parties agreed to provisionally close the issues of missing persons, displaced persons and economic cooperation and start negotiations on property and financial claims. The new Kosovo government is encouraged to engage constructively and resume the negotiations on the comprehensive normalisation agreemen” it is written in the Report which was carried by Kosovo media on Tuesday.
Further the EC in its Report said that following tensions in the north of Kosovo, an arrangement was reached in the EU-facilitated Dialogue on 30 September 2021 on de-escalation and a temporary measure for licence plate issues. “The Parties also agreed to establish a Working Group led by the EU, to find a permanent solution within 6 months based on EU standards and practices. The EU expects the Parties to engage constructively in this process to ensure freedom of movement for citizens,” according to the Report. When it comes to the state of play on implementation of past agreements aduring the reporting period, there has been no further progress on the implementation of the 25 August 2015 Agreements. No progress has been made on the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities and Kosovo has yet to engage constructively in its establishment,” according to the Report.
On the other hand the Report mentions that initial progress on the agreement was made in 2020, when the parties agreed to provisionally close the issues of missing persons, displaced persons and economic cooperation and start negotiations on property and financial claims.
The new Kosovo government is encouraged to engage constructively and resume the negotiations on the comprehensive normalisation agreement with Serbia.
A first look at the Report seems to show that Kosovo government is to be blamed for the deadlock of the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue. /argumentum.al