European Union spokesperson Peter Stano said on Tuesday that the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, is finalizing the report on the steps taken by Kosovo to lift the EU’s punitive measures. The report will include the operations of Kosovo’s authorities to close the Serbian Postal Savings Bank facilities in northern Kosovo.
On May 20, Kosovo authorities conducted a police operation against Serbian financial institutions in northern Kosovo, resulting in the closure of six facilities of the Serbian Postal Savings Bank and the National Bank of Serbia in four northern municipalities with a Serbian majority.
During the action, which Kosovo authorities described as a measure to establish “order and legality,” various pieces of evidence, including money, were confiscated.
EU member states have requested that Borrell compile a report as soon as possible to understand what Kosovo has done to meet the conditions for lifting the imposed measures.
Most member states have proposed that the measures be lifted entirely, while some states suggest they be lifted gradually.
However, before making a decision, they have also requested Borrell’s assessment.
Radio Free Europe has learned from diplomatic sources that due to the developments surrounding the closure of the Serbian Postal Savings Bank facilities, it has been requested that these actions be considered in Borrell’s report.
Stano reiterated this on May 28.
“The measures were imposed as a result of Kosovo’s uncoordinated and unilateral actions, which led to the escalation of the situation. The measures were intended to motivate Kosovo’s authorities to take steps to de-escalate. Naturally, everything that negatively impacts the situation on the ground, and the efforts for de-escalation, is being considered and included in the report,” he said.
Both the United States and the European Union have stated that the recent actions of Kosovo’s authorities were “unilateral and uncoordinated.”
Based on the language used by the EU spokesperson—reflecting the stance of the European Union—diplomats assess that it will now be more difficult to propose lifting the measures against Kosovo.
However, some member states are still awaiting the report.
The European Union imposed punitive measures against Kosovo a year ago, arguing that Kosovo had not done enough to prevent the escalation of tensions in May of last year in the northern part of the country.
At that time, local Serbs protested against the entry of Albanian mayors into municipal buildings in Zveçan, Leposaviq, and Zubin Potok.
As tensions escalated, local Serbs confronted members of the NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR, leaving dozens of soldiers injured.
