Following media reports that Head of the EU Office in Pristina, Natalia Apostolova, in a conference yesterday told Kosovo to work more on persuading “other countries” that have not yet recognized Kosovo independence to do so in a near future and that she said Kosovo “is equal to other countries in the region,” Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, has reacted.
Djuric said that Apostolova directly placed herself on Pristina’s side, disguising the dialogue.
EU Office in Pristina, explained to KoSSev portal that Apostolova said Kosovo should not “miss the opportunity to fulfil the conditions set by the Western Balkans Strategy,” аnd that in this document Kosovo “has been set up equally with other partners in the region”.
“At no point did Ambassador Apostolova speak about the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue,” reads the written explanation sent to KoSSev by EU Office in Pristina Spokesperson, Dinka Zivalj.
“Ambassador Apostolova spoke about the European Commission’s Western Balkans Strategy adopted in February and the Kosovo Report adopted last week”.
“She said that the Western Balkans Strategy is a real window of opportunity for Kosovo, which now has an instrument to progress if conditions are met. She said that in the Strategy, Kosovo is put on an equal footing with the other partners in the region and Kosovo should not miss the opportunity to fulfil the conditions set by the Strategy,” Zivalj added, KoSSev portal reported.
