The Government of Kosovo has issued a statement regarding today’s meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi and the EU envoy, Miroslav Lajčák, and Serbia’s chief negotiator, Petar Petković, on the “dinar”.
The Government states that this meeting was misused by the Serbian side and did not yield results.
“Even in this meeting, it was envisaged to discuss finding a solution for the acceptance of financial support from Serbia, by the Serbian community in Kosovo, presented as the last opportunity for the parties to agree. Unfortunately, this next meeting was misused by the Serbian side and did not yield results.”
The statement says that Kosovo has made comments “through which we were approaching a final solution within the legal framework of the Republic of Kosovo and at the same time without affecting the substance of Mr. Lajčák’s proposal,” but “Serbia has responded with completely new comments, as a new proposal, not only departing from the envoy’s proposal but also from the previous positions of the Serbian side.”
The Kosovar executive has stated that their willingness to find a functional solution has been met with proposals from Serbia that “aim to legalize its parallel and illegal structures”.
“Our willingness for a functional solution that guarantees the continuation of support for the citizens of the Serbian community, the Serbian side has responded with proposals that overall aim to legalize its parallel and illegal structures operating in Kosovo and consequently outside the framework of negotiations on the issue.”
According to the Government, the Serbian side has sought a transition from an illegal parallel system to a legal parallel system “where parallelism ensures non-integration and Serbia’s presence in Kosovo through its institutions.” The Kosovo Government adds that this is unacceptable to them.
“Our efforts for the integration of the Serbian community, the Serbian side has now responded with the explicit request to transition from an illegal parallel system to a parallel but legal system. Therefore, transitioning to a system where parallelism ensures non-integration and Serbia’s presence in Kosovo through its institutions, which is unacceptable to our side.”
The Government of Kosovo has expressed regret for this “regression”, adding that it has been Serbia’s tactic to prevent a solution to this situation.
“The Government of the Republic of Kosovo, through its chief negotiator, expressed regret for this regression, while during the negotiations, Serbia’s withdrawal of its positions and comments sent this week was evident, so it is clear that it has been Serbia’s tactic to prevent a solution to this situation.”
