“The Government of Kosovo has not changed the decision on the ownership of Trepca. Trepca is one hundred per cent owned by Kosovo, but the question which is under consideration relates to the model of the management of this property and future private investments. Currently, Trepca is managed through the Kosovo Privatization Agency, in a process that has been declared legal, during UNMIK’s mandate,” told Petrit Selimi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo.
When asked to whom Trepca owes money and whether the state of Serbia is one of the owners of the company, he notes that “the state of Serbia has exactly zero per cent of Trepča or any other property of Kosovo.” “This question is regulated by the Ahtisaari Agreement and the Constitution of Kosovo. I remind you that Serbian government accepted a constitutional framework of Kosovo with Brussels Agreement. In nineties, many machinations and abuses destroyed this and other companies and certain creditors have claims that originate from this period. However, these are complex processes that involve states from Greece to the United Kingdom, with certain debts for which there are claims that exceed a billion euros,” he said.
Regarding the statement of Serbian official Marko Djuric that “Serbia must show the teeth, and draw a line”, Selimi said he would not comment “stupid statements that are given in affect and are intended for the local tabloids in Serbia.”
“It would be ridiculous if we would start threatening each other through the tabloids, and it is contrary to our intent on building good neighbourly relations. I think that moment when chapter on debts (between Serbia and Kosovo) will be opened, the Serbian government will be the first to beg for closing and forgetting the chapter. If we calculate war compensations, stolen pensions of employees in Kosovo, the injustices caused by the mass dismissal of Albanians from the public sector in 1991-1992, Serbian government will owe tens of billions of euros to Kosovo people. Any decent lawyer will confirm that by the judgment in the case “Milutinovic and others” in The Hague Tribunal long ago was confirmed that Serbian state is solely responsible for the enormous damage which civilians and Kosovo economy suffered,” the he said.
When answering the question of what will be the topic of the upcoming round of the Brussels negotiations and who will lead the delegation of Kosovo, Selimi emphasized that the Kosovo government was “very cooperative and patient regarding the tricks of Belgrade.”
“We have allowed the visits of the Belgrade officials which are based on religious and humanitarian reasons, although these visits were misused for political messages. We were very attentive towards the Serbian community in Kosovo because we believe that the integration of the north is of the crucial importance for the stability. We are faced with a rather mixed signals coming from Belgrade. From one side we see high-ranking officials and pro-government media giving racist comments about Kosovo and people from Kosovo, while, on the other side, Serbia is striving to the EU integrations and better relations with Pristina. We read that Serbian President speaks on topics related to the status, although such issue was once and forever closed by the decision of the International Criminal Court and the UN Resolution 64/298. The next round of dialogue is likely to be focused on the justice sector and the complete withdrawal of Serbian parallel structures, including the courts, in the north of Kosovo. The talks will probably be led by the Prime Minister and Minister of foreign affairs from both sides, but the EU, Pristina and Belgrade will decide on the format” Selimi said.
