The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, expressed his concerns regarding security in Kosovo and Serbia’s territorial claims during a press conference following a meeting with the President of the Swiss National Council.
“An unavoidable topic under these circumstances was the security in Kosovo and the risks we are facing due to Serbia’s territorial claims against Kosovo. I expressed my concerns that if Serbia goes unpunished for the aggression on September 24th in Banjska, Serbia will repeat this scenario. It is one of the countries that has not sanctioned Russia but continues to cooperate with Russia,” Konjufca said, while thanking the President of the Swiss National Council for years of assistance given to Kosovo.
“Serbia Violates the Kosovo-Serbia Agreement Principles”
He criticized Serbia for not respecting the principles of the Basic Agreement, emphasizing that the Serbian state continues to violate these principles through aggressive actions and by not recognizing Kosovo as a sovereign state.
“Principles are the foundations of agreements, and in the second article of the agreement, you have the sovereign equality between Kosovo and Serbia. This principle has no expiry date; Serbia cannot claim that it will act aggressively towards Kosovo and at a certain moment start being a good neighbor. Serbia chose to be a good neighbor on paper when it accepted the agreement,” he stated.
Konjufca also said it is important for the agreement to be implemented in accordance with fundamental principles, not just specific dates.
“We experienced Banjska [the Serbian terrorist attack] in September, after Serbia accepted the agreement. Then there are specific issues that may have deadlines. For example, when will Kosovo’s diplomatic mission open in Serbia and other matters. The problem is that Serbia is violating the principles of the agreement. I can mention two here: the sovereign equality between states by not recognizing Kosovo as a state, even de facto, and the principle of not obstructing Kosovo’s membership in European institutions. Stano clearly addressed Serbia’s violation regarding this. In this interpretation of the agreement, Kosovo is right; there cannot be sovereign equality between states when Mrs. Brnabić, as the Prime Minister of Serbia, sends a letter to nullify the agreement,” Konjufca said.
Furthermore, the Speaker told journalists that Belgrade cannot be a good neighbor when it behaves aggressively.
“The Association is the seventh point of this agreement, and it may have a deadline, but it is not a principle. If we are attacked by Serbia, if the Serbian Defense Minister says the army will return to Kosovo, the principles of the agreement have been violated. This is the spirit of the agreement; we do not have good neighborliness, we have hostility, but not because of us, but because of Serbia and its positioning. In all the exchanges of letters that the Government will have and the arguments, this will be the framework of how we understand the agreement, even though we insist that it be signed by Serbia first and start being implemented. But it must start with the implementation of principles, not dates; principles do not have dates. When you violate another state, you have violated the principle and the UN Charter,” Konjufca further declared.
