The leaders of the most powerful European countries asked Kosova to start the procedure for the establishment of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority, while Serbia to recognize the de-facto statehood of Kosova. This is stated in a joint statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which was published late Friday after the EU Summit.

The call of the European leaders came after the meetings with the Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels. The President of the European Council Charles Michel, the head of the European diplomacy embassy Josep Borrell, and well as the EU representative for the Kosova-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak were also attending the meetings.

In the statement of the European leaders, it is said that “the draft European Statute on the Association includes a modern way to deal with the sensitive issue of the protection of minorities in accordance with the best European practices and standards.

The joint statement

“We underline once again our expectation that the parties fulfill their obligations for the implementation of the Agreement on the road to normalization. The implementation phase should progress in the parties fulfilling their respective obligations in parallel, step by step based on the principle that who has to do something, gets something in return. Now the focus should be on advancing the full implementation of the agreement without preconditions or delays,” the statement said.

Further, the European leaders called on Kosova to “start the procedure for the establishment of the Association, as provided in the draft statute, while Serbia to make de-facto recognition.

Kurti is ready to sign

Kurti stated that during the meetings in Brussels he was ready to sign the European proposal for the Association, while he accused Serbian President Vucic of rejecting it.

The Serbian President, for his part, said after the meetings in Brussels that “we are fully ready for the formation of the Association in accordance with the proposals we received”, but added that “Serbia cannot accept Kosova’s membership in the United Nations or independence and the territorial integrity of Kosova”.

 In the Ohrid agreement, which the parties agreed to on March 18, it is required that Kosova and Serbia do not hinder each other in the integration processes, although not requiring mutual recognition. The plan also foresees the fulfillment of all agreements previously reached in the talks mediated by the European Union.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said in a press conference that the draft proposed by the Western emissaries on October 21 in Pristina, was written carefully and in accordance with the Constitution of Kosova.

/a.p./