Reserved seats for minority communities in Kosovo parliament should remain because of the integration of Serbs from northern Kosovo, says Britain’s ambassador in Pristina Ian Cliff.
British Ambassador in Pristina Ian Cliff said today that reserved seats for minority communities in Kosovo parliament should stay at least one term, because of the need for further integration of Serbs from northern Kosovo.
“It is not logical to start with the integration of the Serbian community from the north, and to reduce the number of MPs from the Serbian community in parliament. I think it needs another term. In Ahtisaari plan idea was that it needs to be in two terms, but the idea was the Serbs to be part of the Kosovo’s system from the beginning,” said Cliff in an interview with the editorial in Serbian of Radio Kosovo.
Asked to comment on what Belgrade and Pristina gained from the Brussels agreement, the British Ambassador responded that Serbia deserved the start of negotiations for membership in the European Union, while Kosovo still needs to work on the rule of law and to prevent the migration of the population so its citizens get visa liberalization.
Cliff expressed the hope that the inauguration of the municipalities in northern Kosovo will be conducted after the Orthodox Christmas and the Community of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo will protect the interests of the Serbian community.
“No doubt it will not be an NGO, it will be a municipal organization, and municipality is some kind of authority, therefore it is foolish to say that it will be an NGO. Simultaneously there will be no Republika Srpska,” he said, adding that the entity is another matter.
“I think that this community will be protection for the Serbian community and the north and south of the river,” said Cliff.
According to him, the powers of the CSM will depend on the statute, which draft is currently being done.
Cliff pointed out that in municipalities with Serbian majority, the education and health will continue to operate in the system of the Government of Serbia, but that the police and the judiciary soon fully will integrate into the Kosovo institutions.
