Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
I would like to address you all in response to the events in the north of Kosova and the most recent discussions on how to approach de-escalation. At our last meeting in Brussels, a week ago, in response to a table proposing de-escalatory steps by Mr. Josep Borrell, Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, I made the following proposal with concrete steps on what Kosova is ready to do and what we’d expect from Serbia in return.
The Republic of Kosova is keen to contribute to de-escalation. We believe that urgent action should be taken towards this aim, and we are eager and ready to commit to concrete steps that support the goals of de-escalation and stability in the region.
More specifically, the steps we deem necessary and are ready to commit to are the following:
1) Decrease Kosova Police presence in and around municipal buildings gradually in proportion to reduction in violence;
2) Provide full access and monitoring, by EULEX and interested Human Rights NGOs, of judicial proceedings in relation to perpetrators of violence;
3) Organize early elections in the four northern municipalities when triggered by a recall petition supported by at least 20 percent of the electorate, as foreseen by Kosova law. Election date is to be set following a confirmation of having met the recall requirements by the President;
4) Instruct subsequently the four mayors in question to hand over their authority to the newly elected mayors after certification by the CEC in accordance with Kosova law.
Meanwhile, from Serbia we expect the following:
1) Withdraw violent protesters from the municipal buildings and surrounding areas;
2) Pledge to cooperate in detention and judicial processing of offenders by Kosova with EULEX monitoring and full due process guarantees;
3) Reduce readiness of the armed forces to a low level, no new troop movements, removal of 48 Forward Operating Bases situated along the border.
4) Refrain from impeding or interfering with the right of ethnic Serb citizens and of all political parties to freely participate, without intimidation, coercion, or corrupt influence, in the local electoral process.
Both parties, Kosova and Serbia, pledge to fully respect Berlin Process Common Regional Market rules and compliance with the EU acquis on free regional trade according to established agreements.
To conclude, we would like to restate our commitment to an intensive dialogue for a full, unconditional, balanced and fairly sequenced implementation of Basic Agreement and it’s Implementation Annex.
De-escalation of the situation and normalization of relations is doable, you have my readiness and willingness.
Best regards and warm greetings from Prishtina. Thank you very much.
Last modified: June 29, 2023