US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, called on Kosova and Serbia to show maximum flexibility and reach an agreement in the coming days on license plates before the November 21 deadline. after which the Kosovar authorities announced that they will fine the owners of vehicles with Serbian license plates.

Escobar said that the parties should double their obligations on the dialogue, including the implementation of the already signed agreements, which means the start of negotiations for the establishment of the Association of Serbian Municipalities.

Regarding the withdrawal of the Serbs from the Kosova Assembly, Escobar says that the US agrees with the European Union that the recent events are disturbing.

“The withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from Kosovo’s institutions is not a solution to the current disputes and has the potential to further escalate tensions on the ground. All parties must take steps to reduce tensions and ensure peace and stability. Actions and rhetoric that increase the possibility of violence put innocent lives and the lives of international peacekeepers at risk,” he says.

When it comes to the establishment of the Association of Serbian Municipalities, Escobar adds that “the Assembly of Kosovo ratified the Brussels Agreement and the Constitutional Court of Kosova decided that the establishment of the Association of Serbian Municipalities is necessary, which makes its foundation a legal obligation for Kosova.”

Asked about the Franco-German proposal for solving the Kosova issue, Escobar says that the details of the proposal are being discussed within the EU dialogue.

“We strongly support it. I assume that after the talks between the two governments, a greater engagement with the public will begin. Progress towards the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosova through the dialogue mediated by the EU remains very important for regional stability and for European stability at a time when we are facing Russian aggression in Ukraine and the crises that Putin’s brutal and unjustified invasion has caused throughout Europe,” he says.

/a.p./