Kosovo government yesterday presented to the European Union a short report on the progress and challenges in the implementation of the Brussels agreements this year. The report presents the overall process of implementation of all agreements reached in Brussels and is signed by Kosovo’s Minister without portfolio and chief negotiator in the technical dialogue, Edita Tahiri.
“Measuring the performance of Kosovo and Serbia in fulfillment of their obligations, aims to provide a clearer picture of how the process of what we have agreed is going. Overall the agreements reached in the dialogue in Brussels can be grouped into three main groups:
1. Agreements for the bilateral cooperation between the two countries – such as IBM agreement and technical protocol, regional cooperation and participation, freedom of movement, free trade, energy, telecom, customs SEED (or systematic exchange of electronic data), mutual recognition of university diplomas, mutual recognition of vehicle insurance, mutual recognition of CPP (certificate of medical products), mutual legal assistance, Liaison Offices and agreement for official visits.
2. Agreements for the normalization of the situation in northern Kosovo – such as that for municipal legal functioning in four northern municipalities, police, justice, the dissolution of the Civil Defense, the amnesty law, fund development and removal of the barricade over the Ibar River bridge. These agreements aimed at consolidation of the Kosovo system in the northern part of the country, the integration of Kosovo Serbs in the Kosovo system and the removal of the parallel structures of Serbia in Kosovo.
3. Agreements for war reparations – such as agreements on the return of civil registry books and cadastral records from Serbia to Kosovo, which were taken by Serbia during the war in Kosovo.
The findings show that the agreements of groups one and three recorded more progress than those in the second group. The agreements of the second group have not shown real progress because of the failure of Serbia to implement these agreements.
All these agreements require consolidation of Kosovo state in northern Kosovo and the integration of Kosovo Serbs, as well as the removal of the parallel structures in northern Kosovo. However, except for the police where the implementation is made in accordance with the Brussels agreements, other areas have faced delays in the implementation of these agreements. The implementation of the Brussels agreements and the continued failure to remove the Serbian parallel structures in Kosovo do not correspond with the goals of the Brussels Agreement.
Kosovo has conditioned the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities with the full removal of the parallel structures in Kosovo. As soon as the removal of these structures is confirmed it can begin the process of establishment of Association.
In order for these agreements to be implemented, Serbia must remove Kosovo from its constitution and also must remove all parallel structures, in order to show consistency in its commitment to dialogue in Brussels and to normalize relations with Kosovo, as envisaged in Chapter 35 of the negotiations for EU membership.
Kosovo is committed to dialogue in Brussels and implementation of the agreements. Stabilisation and Association Agreement signed between Kosovo and the European Union was a historic moment for Kosovo’s official path to European integration. EU’s decision on visa liberalization for citizens of Kosovo is an important step that Kosovo is waiting for.
The Government of Kosovo appreciates the cooperation and support from the EU as a facilitator of the dialogue and as an organization where Kosovo aspires full membership. We highly appreciate the support of the United States, Germany and all other countries in the dialogue in Brussels and Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic integration,” reads the press release issued by the government of Kosovo.
