Lunacek: Agreement on Association/Community can be renegotiated (media)
All media cover today’s press conference by the European Parliament Vice President and Rapporteur for Kosovo, Ulrike Lunacek, who is visiting Kosovo. On the agreement for the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities, Koha quotes Lunacek as saying, “if the Constitutional Court finds that the agreement on the general principles for the formation of the Association is in opposition with the Constitution of Kosovo, the agreement must be renegotiated”. “I also consider one part of the agreement to be problematic because some positions can be held only by Serbs; I don’t believe this is fair in a country that is multi-ethnic. I believe renegotiations are possible if the Constitutional Court decides so”. Kosovapress focuses on Lunacek’s statement about visa liberalization. She said if it were up to her Kosovo would have already had visa liberalization, “but the decision rests with 28 Foreign Ministers of the European Union”. Lunacek said the European Commission is preparing a report that it will present to the member states in December and she expects it will include positive results. Lunacek also said she would try to convince member states to vote in favour of visa liberalization for Kosovo. “I have talked to many people and told them that the people of Kosovo need visa liberalization. I am very supportive of this and so is the European Commission and we will try to convince the member states to vote in favour. It is not certain that they will do so, because politics is not always fair. There are 28 Foreign Ministers of member states that might see a problem in saying ‘Yes’ because of the refugees. I am not completely confident this [visa liberalization] will happen next year,” Lunacek said. Lajmi reports that Lunacek said Serbia’s actions vis-a-vis Kosovo’s UNESCO bid and the reaction of Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic were not in good spirit. “I am concerned over this, knowing that five member states have not recognized Kosovo and even some countries which have recognized Kosovo voted against [Kosovo’s membership of the UNESCO] and I find this unacceptable. This is a step backwards for the European Union, because it showed that we are not united on such matters. Serbia displayed a high level of hatred. If they want the heritage to be preserved they should ask for Kosovo’s membership of the UNESCO, because only in this way their heritage will be protected. I will discuss this with Mogherini, so that it doesn’t happen again, not to have pressure on countries that have recognized [Kosovo] and vice versa,” she said.