The European Union says it hopes that this year Kosova and Serbia will implement the agreements reached so far in the dialogue mediated by the EU, insisting that they are binding and must be fully implemented by both sides.

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said on Monday in Brussels that the start of implementation of the agreement on license plates this week between the two countries shows that “when there is will on both parties, then progress is possible.”

Kosova and Serbia also officially recognized each other’s license plates by avoiding from January 1 the regime of stickers that covered state symbols on license plates when vehicles moved in their respective state territories.

“The dialogue continues and the focus is on the implementation of what was agreed upon in Brussels and then in Ohrid last year. We saw in the case of license plate recognition that progress is possible. The parties agreed on the implementation of the decision on license plates,” said Stano.

He emphasized that the EU will work to help the parties to implement what they are committed, re reiterating that they are binding for the parties.

The dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosova and Serbia has been mediated by the EU since 2011.

Last year, Kosova and Serbia reached the Agreement on the way to the normalization of relations and the Annex for its implementation. Despite international pressure on the parties to implement the agreement, the EU has points out that it is not being implemented.

Being asked about the instruments the EU has to convince Serbia implement the agreement, since it has stated that it will not implement some parts of it, Stano said on Monday that Serbia has chosen EU integration as its orientation and in case of failure in the implementation of obligations, this process would be jeopardized.

“We know that there are other issues that Serbia must fulfill along the integration process, not only Kosova. But one [issue] more will make the journey even more difficult,” he said.

The agreement on normalization, made of 11 articles, among other things, foresees a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosova and mutual recognition of the state symbols, while asking Prishtina and Belgrade to also implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue between the parties.

On the other hand, the US has repeatedly stated that the dialogue for the normalization of relations should be concluded with the mutual recognition between the two countries.

The international community has constantly asked Kosova to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, which should give greater decision-making to the Serbs in Kosova.

A draft statute in regards has been presented to Kosova and Serbia in October by representatives of the EU, the United States, France, Germany and Italy. However, the Kosovan Prime Minister of, Albin Kurti has stated recently that he and some of his ministers will also write the draft statute for the Association.

Regarding the penalizing measures the EU took against Kosova last year, following the rise of tensions in the north of the country, Stano said that they will be removed “when it is estimated that the appropriate steps have been taken for the de-escalation of the situation in the north of Kosova”.

Stano underscored that the EU is monitoring the situation on the ground and working with partners to see if appropriate measures have been taken.

Last month, President of Kosova, Vjosa Osmani said that there is a tendency from some countries to misuse the measures that the EU has imposed at the beginning of this year against her country, to “condition it on completely different issues”.

“As for the measures, they had to be removed, in fact they never had to be put in place, despite the disagreements that existed between the Government of Kosova and the partners in the EU regarding May 26 [event],” said Osmani.

Kosovan President insisted that Kosova has fulfilled the conditions for lifting the measures, saying that “what was requested from Kosova for what they called de-escalation has happened”.

/a.p./