• Scholz expects ‘constructive results’ from EU’s Serbia-Kosovo pact (Reuters)
• Lajcak to visit Kosovo and Serbia before meeting in Ohrid (media)
• Kurti and Lajcak to discuss roadmap implementation this week (Koha)
• Guerot calls on opposition to view Association differently (Telegrafi)
• PDK’s Haliti says Serbia will not sign European plan (media)
• Ruling and opposition MPs to continue debate on dialogue today (Zeri)
• Svecla on arrest of war crimes suspect: We don’t pardon war crimes (media)
• Strpce Mayor Jevtic meets with UNMIK chief Ziadeh (media)

Scholz expects ‘constructive results’ from EU’s Serbia-Kosovo pact (Reuters)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday he saw a “great willingness” to normalise relations between former wartime foes Serbia and Kosovo, and held out the prospect of constructive results soon from a tentative EU-brokered deal.

After hosting talks between the Serbian and Kosovo government leaders, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Feb. 27 they had “agreed that no further discussions are needed” on an EU proposal to put their relations on a path to normalisation. The text of the basic agreement was not signed by the leaders, however, and it subsequently became clear that none of the key players saw it as set in stone yet.

But Scholz gave an upbeat assessment at a news conference in Berlin with his visiting Albanian counterpart Edi Rama. “I assume that we will soon achieve good and constructive results,” Scholz said. There is a great willingness to make possible now what seemed impossible for so long – it would be good for peace, but also for development in Kosovo and Serbia.”

Read more at: https://reut.rs/3yrnlRH

Lajcak to visit Kosovo and Serbia before meeting in Ohrid (media)

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said on Tuesday that the EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, will stay in Pristina on Thursday and Friday and is scheduled to meet heads of Kosovo institutions and opposition parties. Lajcak will then stay in Belgrade for two days early next week. Stano said that after the last leaders’ meeting in Brussels on February 27, Lajcak will continue discussions and preparations for the next meeting.

Kurti and Lajcak to discuss roadmap implementation this week (Koha)

A spokesperson for the Kosovo government told the news website that Prime Minister Albin Kurti and EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak will meet this week and discuss the implementation roadmap for the European plan. “The implementation plan will be discussed and negotiated between the two parties in the next meetings. This plan should include concrete details and be comprehensive, provide effectiveness in implementation and be sequenced in a balanced manner. The first meeting in this regard between Prime Minister Kurti and the envoy Lajcak is scheduled at the end of this week in Pristina,” the spokesperson said.

Guerot calls on opposition to view Association differently (Telegrafi)

French Ambassador to Kosovo, Olivier Guerot, said on Tuesday that the agreement for the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia which was discussed in Brussels on February 27, could have been a historical moment for both countries. Guerot told media that this agreement is positive and that it is in Kosovo’s interest as a state.

“I think we are in a promising moment. There is a real chance to make concrete progress on the path of normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The agreement which was discussed on February 27 has potential … it offers a lot for both countries, Kosovo and Serbia. It is something very positive and in the interest of Kosovo as a state,” he told reporters.

Guerot also commented on the position of the opposition and said that they should see the issue of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities from a broader perspective. “Kosovo is a democratic country, and it is normal for the government and opposition to have different positions on different matters. As we have asked from the Kosovo government, we ask the same from the opposition and that is to see the issue of the Association from a broader perspective, to see ‘the bigger picture’ and to appreciate the efforts of the international community for Kosovo and Serbia,” he said.

Guerot said he hopes the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia will be finalised on March 18.

PDK’s Haliti says Serbia will not sign European plan (media)

MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Xhavit Haliti, in an interview with ATV commented on the French-German plan for the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, arguing that “we have an 8:2 score of benefits from the agreement”. He said that eight points go in Kosovo’s favor and that two are in Serbia’s favor, “and these could create problems for Kosovo”. “The moment will come when they will say ‘take it or leave it’. My concern is about the statute of the Association and how we will resolve it,” he said.

Haliti also said he believes that Kosovo needs to sign the European plan “because we are under great pressure” and that Serbia will not sign the plan “because their game is to make Kosovo not sign it”.

Ruling and opposition MPs to continue debate on dialogue today (Zeri)

Members of the Kosovo Assembly will meet today to continue the debate on the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. The session is scheduled to start at 12:00.

Svecla on arrest of war crimes suspect: We don’t pardon war crimes (media)

Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, reacted on Tuesday to news that the Special Prosecution of Kosovo has arrested a Serb suspected of committing war crimes against civilians in 1999 in Kamenica.

Svecla said that the crimes committed during the war in Kosovo will not be forgotten or pardoned and that “justice is inevitable for every inhumane act against the civilian population”.

The Special Prosecution said in a statement that “Z.A. is suspected that during the war in Kosovo, namely in March 1999 at the police station in Kamenica in his capacity as the official person and in co-perpetration with other members of the Serbian police, uniformed and armed, has mistreated the injured party B.M. causing him serious bodily injuries, trauma, actions which are sanctioned according to domestic applicable laws, and the International Convention of Geneva”. The statement also notes that the suspect during February and March 1999, in co-perpetration with other members of the Serbian police and paramilitary groups, was involved in forcibly expelling citizens of Kamenica and surrounding villages. He is suspected of the criminal offence “war crimes against civilian population”.

Strpce Mayor Jevtic meets with UNMIK chief Ziadeh (media)

Mayor of the municipality of Strpce, Dalibor Jevtic, met on Tuesday met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo and UNMIK chief, Caroline Ziadeh. The municipality said in a Facebook post that Jevtic and Ziadeh discussed the dialogue for the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia “and the impact it has on the lives and security of ordinary people and our citizens”.

Jevtic asked for the trust in the institutions to be restored despite the fact that many of his colleagues from the Serb community have left all Kosovo institutions about three months ago. “The implementation of the agreements reached in Brussels is the most important, and the return of the Serbs to the institutions depends on this,” Jevtic said.

SRSG Ziadeh commended Mayor Jevtic for his support to inter-ethnic relations throughout the municipality and reassured him of UNMIK’s sustained efforts in building trust among all communities.