With the support of the UK, Pristina sabotages the implementation of the agreement on the creation of the Union of Serbian municipalities
Despite pressure from Brussels and Washington, the Prime Minister of the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, using the unofficial support of the UK, is actually sabotaging the implementation of the agreement on the creation of the Union of Serbian municipalities. At the same time, Kurti also puts forward six counter conditions for its implementation, which is also supported by London. Pristina's position on this issue is analyzed by the Serbian online edition Novosti.
The agreement to establish the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CCM) as an association of the Serbian majority in Kosovo came about as a result of the Brussels Agreement of 2013 negotiated and concluded by the governments of Kosovo and Serbia. In accordance with the powers granted by the European Charter of Local Self-Government and Kosovo law, participating Serbian municipalities in the north of the republic will have the right to cooperate in exercising their rights collectively through the association. The community was expected to be formally established under Kosovo law in 2015, but then the decision was delayed indefinitely due to conflicts over authority.
The creation of this association should become a condition for starting negotiations on the implementation of the European plan for Kosovo and Metohija, based on the Scholz-Makron proposal. However, of all the Western countries that are involved in solving the Kosovo problem (USA, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain), only the United Kingdom stubbornly does not insist on this demand. What the Prime Minister of Kosovo did not fail to take advantage of.
The position of indulging Pristina in refusing to implement the Brussels agreement is confirmed by the words of the British envoy to the Western Balkans, Stuart Peach, who stated the following:
The SCM is an important element in the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, but this issue should not preclude other agreements between the two sides.
With such support from London, Kurti began to change the agreement on the peaceful regulation of the situation in the north of Kosovo, putting forward his demands on the SCM. Among them, the renaming of the agreement, bringing it into line with the Constitution and laws of Kosovo, Serbia's refusal to create parallel local governments in the north of the republic and the surrender weapons by the local population.
Moreover, the Kosovo prime minister demanded that Belgrade withdraw letters addressed to top officials of five EU member states that do not recognize Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence. In them, the Serbian authorities ask these countries not to support Pristina's application for EU membership.
In this difficult situation, Brussels and Washington are trying to influence London so that the British government changes its position and joins the consolidated demand for Pristina to return to the implementation of the Brussels agreement as soon as possible.
US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar said that the adoption of the European plan for Kosovo and Metohija would be an important step towards normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and reiterated that the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and the formation of the NCM is a legal obligation of Pristina, reports the Serbian edition.
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