Kosovo says yes to EU peace deal with Serbia with caveats – #Kosovo #peace #deal #Serbia #caveats
PRISTINA, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Monday that he was concerned about Western demands for more rights for local Serbs, which have so far blocked a peace deal, which is aimed at normalizing relations with Serbia. Europe Union offer accepted his plan.
Last month, Western envoys were due to tell Kosovo and Serbia whether to accept an 11-point plan to end tensions since the 1998-99 war, or whether the EU and USAwill face the echo of
Kosovo 20In 2008, ten years after the partisan uprising against the Belgrade authorities, it declared its independence from Serbia. For the past decade, the two have been negotiating EU-brokered normalization, with Pristina and Belgrade key to success in their bids to join the rich bloc.
The 11-point plan calls for the implementation of past agreements, including the creation of a union of semi-autonomous Serbian municipalities, which Kurti opposes and says would effectively split the country along ethnic lines, a criticism rejected by Western mediators.
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“We accept the EU’s proposal to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia and consider it a good basis for further discussions and a solid platform for progress,” Kurti wrote on Twitter after a meeting with EU representative Miroslav Lajcak in Pristina.
“International guarantees, execution Certain questions regarding the mechanisms and time sequence will be resolved soon during the upcoming Brussels negotiations.
Last week, Kurti said he might be willing to consider creating an association, but only if it complies with Kosovo’s constitution and is not based solely on ethnic grounds.
Kosovo through such association as part of the 2013 peace agreement 20He pledged to give more autonomy to local Serbs who refused to recognize their independence in 2008. However, of Kosovo higher The court said that some parts of the agreement violate the constitution and should be changed before entering into force.
Offer The 11-point agreement will not require Serbia to recognize the independence of the former province, but Belgrade will have to stop lobbying against Kosovo’s membership in international institutions.
The two countries should also open offices in each other’s capitals and work on resolving outstanding issues.
Ethnic Serbs make up about 1.8 million of Kosovo’s population 100,000, about half of whom live in the north of the country, and most of whom refuse to recognize Pristina’s authority.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told parliament last week that Western envoys have warned Belgrade that if Serbia does not accept the offer, its EU membership talks will be suspended, and access to pre-membership funds and investments will be banned.
Reporting by Fatos Bytyci Editing by Tomasz Janowski
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2023-02-07 06:13:38
Source – reuters
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