Prishtina, May 24, 2013
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo, led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, has held its regular meeting in which it approved the signing of the Implementation Plan, approximated on May 22, 2013, by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo and the Prime Minister of Serbia for the implementation of the First Agreement of the Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia, approximated on April 19, 2013, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo and Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia.
At the opening of the meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi reiterated the position of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and expressed concern about recent developments related to alleged war crimes by commanders and fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
“The Government of the Republic of Kosovo firmly believes in the fair fight of KLA commanders and fighters, the fight of Kosovo for freedom, independence, a democratic state and a close partnership with the international community, with the United States, European Union and NATO” – stated Prime Minister Thaçi, and added:
“The Government of the Republic of Kosovo builds and supports the rule of law, the independent and impartial functioning of the judiciary in general and of EULEX, and expects this process to take place on these principles guarded by us and the democratic world. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo believes in justice and in the innocence of commanders, soldiers of the Kosovo Liberation Army. It believes in the fight of the KLA, in Kosovo citizens, in the purity of Kosovo Liberation War “.
“All these suspicions, earlier in The Hague and even in Pristina, have proved ungrounded and we hope and believe that these allegations are completely ungrounded and unsubstantiated. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo fully believes in justice, but fully believes in the innocence of commanders and fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army, as the citizens of Kosovo believe “- stated Prime Minister Thaçi.
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Further, the Prime Minister informed the members of the Cabinet on having reached the first agreement in Brussels on normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia for the implementation process, an agreement that received the unanimous support of the Government.
The following is the full text of the Prime Minister on this issue:
Dear members of the Cabinet,
A day before yesterday, the first agreement was reached in Brussels on normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia for the implementation process. The agreement was signed or on which we have agreed in principle. All have described it as historic for many reasons:
For the first time Kosovo and Serbia as two independent states, on equal ground, at the level of prime ministers, have signed an agreement to normalize relations, enabling the closure of almost a century of a dark chapter and the opening a new chapter, that of peace and interstate cooperation. Above all, through this agreement, Kosovo has established legal and Constitutional control over all the territory of the Republic of Kosovo.
Much negotiation has taken place so we can reach to this agreement. We have worked hard, so that our political position would be based on real, logical and appropriate arguments for each and every citizen of Kosovo and each community here.
This agreement has compromises, but we have ensured that every compromise should be one that would best serve the interests of the citizens of Kosovo, both in the north and in the south.
With this agreement, Kosovo has given an ideal opportunity to our citizens in the north that they become an integral part of our democratic society.
Therefore, they are enabled to be part of an effective police force, erected on the highest European standards. This is their chance to become part of the unified structure of the Kosovo judiciary, giving them additional opportunities to gain confidence in Kosovo justice by participating themselves in the decision-making process.
The agreement gives them the opportunity to administer the local government in full accordance with the laws of Kosovo and the European Charter.
Having the Agreement refer to these two pieces of legislation is a guarantee that powers of this association will not to interfere in those of the national level. Moreover, this agreement provides an end to Serbia’s obstructions regarding Kosovo’s path towards European integration and this is an additional element of essential significance.
We witnessed the attention that the public opinion have given to this agreement, and particularly our international partners as their attention has been focused particularly on the implementation of this agreement as a vital part to the whole process, and for exactly due to this fact, namely due to the lack of compromise in implementation committee, just a few days ago we went through a new round of difficult negotiations in Brussels between the two prime ministers, which resulted in a very concrete level of implementation.
The hardest part of work now awaits us towards the implementation of this agreement. I trust that you all have the implementation in front of you, and I can freely emphasize that for the second time Kosovo has won the toughest battles in the implementation of this agreement.
It has been agreed that the association of municipalities will be made functional only after the local elections take place and after security and justice structures will be integrated immediately into a unified system of Kosovo police and justice, but only after they have passed through our set laws and procedures.
These are the most important elements of the agreement, as well as of the implementation plan. These will provide that constitutional order and of the Government of Kosovo will also extend in the north of Kosovo and the constitutional order of the Government, the rule of law of the Republic of Kosovo will be reinstated, thus, leading to what we have aimed for more than 14 years – in extending the unitary of the Republic of Kosovo in all its territory.
Therefore, distinguished members of the Cabinet, I would invite you to adopt the implementation plan, signed in Brussels on Wednesday. This agreement includes the implementation plan in its entirety, including time periods, implementing actors regarding the six key elements, regulation of the legal framework, the association, police, justice, local elections and general provisions.
The whole plan is planned to be implemented within the next six months, so thanks you for your continuous support; thanking the Parliament of Kosovo, the entire political spectrum and all Kosovar society, without further due, I would invite you to approve the implementation plan and then process it for approval at the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.
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Once again, allow me to thank Baroness Ashton for leading this process and for the facilitations she has created with her commitment to reach this agreement.
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At today’s meeting of the Government, the Minister of European Integration, Vlora Çitaku proposed, and the Government has approved, the amendment of the decision on the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Integration Strategy for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, in order to make this committee functional.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enver Hoxha informed the Cabinet on the organization of the South East Europe Cooperation Process Summit, hosted by the Republic of Macedonia. The cabinet has deemed as unacceptable the lack of an invitation to the President of Kosovo to this summit and noted that this proves that peace, cooperation and mutual respect in the region is prey to prejudices and not properly acknowledging of the reality in the region.
Last modified: July 31, 2022