The government of Kosovo has issued a press release which informs that Minister for dialogue, Edita Tahiri, met during her visit in Brussels with the officials of the European Union. The focus of their discussions was acceleration on implementing all the agreements reached in the Brussels dialogue. She met with Anna-Maria Eleni Boura, Special adviser for the dialogue from the Office of the EU High Representative, Frederica Mogherini, as well as with Nicholas Cendrowics and Alexis Hupin, facilitators of different fields of the dialogue.
“During these meetings, Minister Tahiri valued highly the progress reached in the dialogue during this period, reach of the agreements on the issue of “The civilian protection” and justice, confirming that the government of Kosovo has started immediately with fulfillment of the implementable obligations.
“These positive developments are a new inducement for this process and they should serve to push forward implementation of the agreements on the fields where stagnations and delays were highlighted,” stressed Tahiri.
Minister Tahiri engaged especially on the issues of the telephone prefix for Kosovo, the issue of energy, free movement, removal of the barricade over River Ibër/Ibar, reach of the agreement for vehicle insurance, etc.
Both parties agreed on the need to increase engagements on implementation of the agreements. They also discussed and approximated their positions for ITU to grant Kosovo a telephone prefix. They discussed solutions for different aspects of energy, and they assessed that positive steps have been made on implementation of the signed agreements for cooperation between the Authorities of energy transmission systems of the two countries, which was enabled by this dialogue.
When the freedom of movement is concerned, Minister Tahiri presented her request for opening of a border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia at the “Kapi i Sfirces” point and informed the EU representatives that mayors of Kamenica and Medvedja municipalities have submitted such a request to the respective authorities. She stressed that the government of Kosovo is ready to engage on this direction being that this border crossing would facilitate the freedom of movement and it would shorten the distance for 100 km. She requested for this issue to be discussed with the Serbian party.
They also discussed the obstacles created by Serbia’s stopping Kosovo buses and trucks, and they agreed that both parties should respect the agreement and in case that there is a need for new standards, the issues have to be agreed with Brussels in advance.
Minister Tahiri spoke also about the positive actions initiated by the EU Office in Kosovo to revitalize the Ibër/Ibar Bridge, to remove the barricades and expressed conviction that the action plan will be completed within the foreseen deadline.
Speaking about the agreement for vehicle insurance, which was close to being signed, Minister Tahiri criticized Serbia’s lack of readiness to sign it and requested from the EU to increase its engagement, stressing that the issue has been discussed for more than two years and that the delays are harming financially the citizens of both states. She said that Serbian insurance companies should set the interest of the citizens prior to their commercial priorities, as it happened with the insurance companies in Kosovo and the Insurance Bureau of Kosovo, who affirmed this agreement.
Minister Tahiri also raised the issue of the need for Kosovo government to equip Albanians in Presevo Valley with Albanian textbooks. She requested for this process to flow unimpeded by the Serbian authorities, based on the principal of reciprocity.
They also discussed some other issues related to the administrative procedures on customs taxes and advancing of some technical aspects, which raised the need of a quick meeting of the IBM working group, and stressed the need to hold the assessment periodical meetings of the Liaison Offices, as foreseen by the implementation plan.
Kosovo delegation was headed by Minister Tahiri and political advisers Dren Zeka and Gazmir Raci who is also coordinator for the Brussels dialogue and Kosovo’s Ambassador in Brussels, Mimoza Ahmetaj,” reports the press release.
