The government of Kosovo accuses Serbia of distancing itself from the Brussels Basic Agreement and the Ohrid annex for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations.
In the Kosovo executive, they say that Serbia’s active lobbying against Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe and the letter of the Serbian Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić addressed to the European Union, have attacked the agreement in its two central points that will prevent its implementation.
According to them, the EU representative for dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, is also to blame, who failed to convince Serbia to sign the agreement and implement it.
Jeton Zulfaj, political adviser to the prime minister, Albin Kurti, tells KosovaPress that Serbia has contested the existence of the Brussels agreement with its recent actions.
“Serbia has distanced itself from the agreement and has sent a letter to the European Union, where it says that the agreement is not legally binding for Serbia and is not acceptable in its entirety.
It has attacked the agreement in its two central points which make its implementation impossible… This is a problem, instead of focusing on its implementation, Serbia is contesting its existence. Therefore, the signing of the agreement has become necessary to ensure its legality. An agreement that must be considered legally binding must be accepted by both parties,” he says.
According to him, the letter of the institutional heads sent to the Council of Europe only confirms Kosovo’s readiness for the full implementation of the Brussels agreement, including the Association, but after the membership in this international mechanism.
“The letter that was sent to the Council of Europe by the heads of Kosovo’s institutions is a continuation, even in writing, of the commitments that we give publicly for the full implementation of the agreement that we reached in Brussels in February of last year. There is nothing new in this regard. There we are committed to implement on the basis of the Constitution even on paper as you have seen, within the powers of the government and in accordance with the constitution.
After membership in the Council of Europe, all steps will be taken for the full implementation of the agreement. But one article cannot be extracted from the agreement, when we have the complete denial of the legality of the agreement and the denial of some articles of the agreement, including article four, the non-impedance of Kosovo’s membership in any international organization,” he adds.
Speaking about the role of the EU emissary for dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, as he is at the end of his mandate, Zulfaj says that there have been disagreements due to his approach and the inequality between the parties.
“Of course we have had disagreements which we have made public about the way and approach to dialogue because the equality of the parties has been and remains essential for us. The topics that are discussed are related to the normalization of relations that lead to mutual recognition… The agreement we have reached is a lost opportunity that they did not manage to bring Serbia to sign.
I think that the work of the emissary should be seen in this direction and in this light. An agreement he was engaged in failed to bring Serbia to sign it and now we have the public position and officials of Serbia against this agreement in writing. In the background, what remains is this agreement and this annex that Serbia is contesting, at this point we are”, emphasizes Zulfaj.
On the other hand, Zulfaj for KosovaPress also talks about the three-year government, where he lists the successes that he believes have been achieved.
He mentions economic development, democratic progress and the extension of sovereignty in the north, while emphasizing that there have been no corrupt affairs.
“Economic development and democratic progress, extending sovereignty, strengthening the state, strengthening and investing in defense, investing in young people in returning brains and promoting exports, I think we have worked in all these areas.
We have 6.2 percent average economic growth for three years, while foreign direct investments have been invested. We have brought the export-import ratio from 1.9 to 1.6. Last year we had the largest capital investments ever in Kosovo with 555 million, we have 420 thousand active jobs, that is 20 percent more than we had in the previous year.
This shows the great formalism of the economy that we have done… To mention the practice of concluding a contract with the suggestion that only the practice of concluding that contract according to that procedure is corruption is not correct. In this regard, there are unfounded accusations, as the opposition accuses of many unfounded things, and this is one of the unfounded accusations. There is no corruption affair in single source contracts. Let them be investigated freely and if there is a basis, then it is a proper concern”, he says.
On the other hand, Zulfaj for KosovaPress also talks about the three-year government, where he lists the successes that he believes have been achieved.
He mentions economic development, democratic progress and the extension of sovereignty in the north, while emphasizing that there have been no corrupt affairs.
“Economic development and democratic progress, extending sovereignty, strengthening the state, strengthening and investing in defense, investing in young people in returning brains and promoting exports, I think we have worked in all these areas.
We have 6.2 percent average economic growth for three years, while foreign direct investments have been invested. We have brought the export-import ratio from 1.9 to 1.6. Last year we had the largest capital investments ever in Kosovo with 555 million, we have 420 thousand active jobs, that is 20 percent more than we had in the previous year.
This shows the great formalism of the economy that we have done… To mention the practice of concluding a contract with the suggestion that only the practice of concluding that contract according to that procedure is corruption is not correct. In this regard, there are unfounded accusations, as the opposition accuses of many unfounded things, and this is one of the unfounded accusations. There is no corruption affair in single source contracts. Let them be investigated freely and if there is a basis, then it is a proper concern”, he says.
