Today marks ten years since the signing of the first agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, in Brussels. Hashim Thaçi, then prime minister of Kosovo, and Ivica Dacic of Serbia signed the 15-point agreement, with the aim of normalizing relations between the two countries.

The agreement of April 19, among other things, contains points that talk about the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority and the dissolution of parallel structures in the north.

These are the points of the agreement for which Kosovo and Serbia agreed on April 19, 2013, with the mediation of the European Union.

-There will be an Association/Community of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo. Membership in it will be open to other municipalities, which are mentioned in the agreement.

-The Community/Association will be created through the statute. Its distribution will happen only through a decision of the participating parties. Legal guarantees will be provided through applicable law and constitutional law (including 2/3 majority of the decision-making body).

-The structures of the Association/Community will be established on the same basis as the existing statute of the Association of Municipalities of Kosovo, such as the chairman, deputy chairman, Assembly, Council.

-In accordance with the powers granted by the European Charter for Local Self-Government and the Law of Kosovo, the participating municipalities will have the right to cooperate during the exercise of their collective powers through the Community/Association. The Association/Community will have full access to the areas of economic development, education, health, urbanism and rural planning.

-The Association/Community will also exercise other additional responsibilities, depending on how they are delegated by the central authorities.

-The Community/Association will have a representative role in the central authorities and for this purpose will have a seat in the advisory council of the communities. Accordingly, a monitoring function is provided.

-There will be a police force in Kosovo, called the Kosovo Police. All policemen in the north of Kosovo will be integrated within the framework of the Kosovo Police. Salaries payment will be covered only by the Kosovo Police (KP).

-Members of the Serbian security structures will be offered a place in the equivalent Kosovar structures.

-There will be a Regional Police Commander for the four Serbian-majority municipalities (Northern Mitrovica, Zveçan, Zubin Potok and Leposaviq). The commander of this region will be a Kosovo Serb, nominated by the Ministry of the Interior, from a list that will be provided by the four mayors, on behalf of the Community/Association. The composition of the KP in the north will reflect the composition of the population of the four municipalities. (There will also be another regional commander for the municipalities of Mitrovica, Skenderaj and Vushtrri). The regional commander of the four municipalities in the north will cooperate with the other regional commanders.

-Judicial authorities will be integrated and will operate within the legal framework of Kosovo. The Court of Appeal in Pristina will create a panel, the majority of whose judges will be Kosovo Serbs, to deal with all municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo.

-A sector of this Court of Appeal, consisting of administrative and judicial staff, will remain permanently in the north of Mitrovica (District Court in Mitrovica). The majority of each panel of the above sector will consist of Kosovo Serb judges. The location of the respective judges will depend on the nature of the cases in which they are involved.

-Municipal elections in the northern municipalities will be organized in 2013, with the help of the OSCE, in accordance with Kosovo law and international standards.

-Discussions related to energy and telecom will be intensified by both sides, and will be concluded by June 15.

-It was agreed that neither side should block, or encourage others to block the progress of the other side in the journey towards the EU.

-With the help of the EU, an Implementation Committee will be created by both parties.

/k.s/