Eurasia Press & News
“We reiterated Kosovo’s position, but also the State Department’s guarantee – that no association or any other mechanism that violates sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and constitutional order can be formed,” said the President of the Kosovo Assembly from Washington after the meeting with the special envoy of the USA for the Western Balkans.
Opposition to the formation of such a body comes at the height of the international community’s insistence on the urgent implementation of Article 7 of the agreement reached in Ohrid, which calls for “self-government” for the Serbs, that is, the formation of the ZSO.
Gljauk Konjufca is on an official visit to the USA, where he will participate in the Democracy Summit this week, KoSSev reports .
Along the way, he is planning more meetings, and he realized one of them today.
He met with the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, accompanied by Kosovo Ambassador Iljir Dugoli and Chief of Staff Ijir Kerjeli.
At the meaningful meeting, as Konjufca called it, they discussed current political events in Kosovo and the region, the dialogue process and the Ohrid Agreement, as well as “next steps for the full normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia”.
In a post on Facebook, Konjufca reiterated Pristina’s position – that no mechanism or association can be formed that violates “the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and constitutional order of Kosovo”.
They also discussed the improvement of bilateral relations between Kosovo and the USA, as well as the continuation of the “common agenda” – Kosovo’s membership in Euro-Atlantic and international institutions.
Gabriel Escobar has so far not announced his meeting with Konjufc on social networks.
Let us remind you that on March 18, Kosovo Prime Minister Aljbin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić reached an agreement on the implementation of the agreed first part of the Agreement for the Normalization of Relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
On the same evening, the European Union announced this, that is, the second part of the agreement, after announcing the political one on February 27 – with 11 articles that will be implemented according to the Implementation Annex, part of which has now been agreed. Moreover, it will be formulated in the coming months for each member individually.
Among other things, Kosovo has committed itself to immediately start the implementation of Article 7, which refers to self-governance for Serbs, and the implementation of the agreement is included as an individual obligation in the negotiation chapters for the accession of Serbia and Kosovo to the EU.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo and the President of Serbia are sending conflicting messages regarding the only article of the agreement that specifically concerns the Serbian community in Kosovo and what it represents.
For Serbia, it is the final formation of the Union of Serbian Municipalities with broad powers, and for Kosovo, it is a possibility through the so-called Ahtisaari’s plan.
International officials also clearly call on Pristina to start implementing the commitments made in the agreement related to the rights of the Serbian community, the priority of the USA.
American officials, especially in the last few months, have been making efforts to form the ZSO, claiming that this is an obligation that was taken as part of the Brussels dialogue 10 years ago.
This is exactly what Escobar himself has asked Pristina on several occasions.
On the other hand, when it comes to its competences, he emphasized, similarly to Pristina, that the ZSO must be in accordance with the Kosovo constitution and laws, and that it must not undermine “independence and sovereignty”.
