UNMIK Media Observer, Morning Edition, March 6, 2023

Kurti talks with Murphy about implementation plan of EU proposal (media)
Lajcak: The association does not weaken Kosovo (euronews.al)
Kosovo to fulfill Serbian Orthodox Church obligations in Franco-German plan, experts say (Prishtina Insight)
Kurti has telephone conversation with Erdogan (media)
Bislimi: Athens should take advantage of the momentum (media)
Petkovic to Bislimi: Serbia will never recognize Kosovo (Klan)
“Progress of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue can take its shape in Ohrid” (Klan)
Giaufret: European proposal, a historic opportunity (media)
Analysis: No big deal: EU's Kosovo pact loses some sheen (Reuters)
Serbian nationalists march in protest against Kosovo talks (Reuters)
The ”Kosovo Vow” in the Bosnian Story (Sarajevo Times)

Kurti talks with Murphy about implementation plan of EU proposal (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that he is ready to continue discussions on the implementation plan of the European proposal for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. He made these remarks on Friday night, during a telephone conversation with U.S. Senator Chris Murphy.

Murphy was among the senators who on March 2, through a joint statement with other senators of the Subcommittee on Foreign Relations for Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, asked Kosovo and Serbia to agree to the implementation plan of the European Proposal - Agreement towards normalization between the two countries.

Lajcak: The association does not weaken Kosovo (euronews.al)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said that the Association of Serb-majority municipalities should not be seen by Kosovo as a weakening of its functionality. According to him, there are 16 existing functional models that can be seen as models for minority rights and that all of them are in accordance with European standards.

In an interview for The Atlantic Council, Lajcak said that for the Association, Kosovo and Serbia should agree on how it will be and how it should not be. “We should not be afraid of something that is not yet on the agenda, in the dialogue process. Kosovo and Serbia are equal parties. Neither party can impose its will on the other party against its will”, he said, adding that as a mediator, the EU is “a guarantor that whatever is agreed upon must be in accordance with European standards”.

Kosovo to fulfill Serbian Orthodox Church obligations in the Franco-German plan, experts say (Prishtina Insight)

Monday’s meeting in Brussels between Kosovo and Serbia leaders resulted without any signatures on the EU Plan.

One of the most disputed elements of this plan remains the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo.

Article seven of the EU Proposal states: “The Parties shall formalize the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and afford a strong level of protection to the Serbian religious and cultural heritage sites, in line with existing European models.”

On Kallxo Përnime’ Tuesday, the former judge of the Constitutional Court in Kosovo, Gjylijeta Mushkolaj, said that the official formalism of the Orthodox Church in Kosovo has been a taboo subject for every government.

“The legal position of the Church is a taboo topic here in Kosovo and the problem of every government since the declaration of independence. It is the reluctance of every government to form the law for the registration and operation of religious communities in Kosovo. I believe that this government will have the courage to do it” – Mushkolaj declared.

According to the former judge, Kosovo operates with a law from the 80s regarding the status of religious communities.

Read more at: https://bit.ly/41LhZ1h

Kurti has telephone conversation with Erdogan (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Saturday that he had a telephone conversation with President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I spoke with President of Turkiey Recep Tayyip Erdogan today and expressed my condolences to him and families of victims of the earthquake in Turkiye, while he thanked Kosovo for the support of rescue teams and aid provided. He applauded the result achieved in Brussels and conveyed his support and readiness to help,” Kurti wrote in a Twitter post.

Bislimi: Athens should take advantage of the momentum (media)

Kosovo’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, said that Greece should continue in the decisive step of recognizing Kosovo, taking advantage of the moment created by the agreement of last Monday in Brussels between Belgrade and Pristina on the European plan for the normalization of their relations.

"We would like to strengthen our friendship with Athens and have shown patience in contributing to this relationship even when recognition was not on the table. Now that Serbia has practically committed to recognizing Kosovo and is slowly realizing that it is the best for it too, Athens should take advantage of this momentum to take the decisive step and strengthen our joint efforts for the stabilization of the Western Balkans,” Bislimi said in an interview with Kathimerini, during his stay in the Greek capital, where he met with Greek officials, among them the Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias.

"We would like to strengthen our friendship with Athens, and we have shown patience by contributing to this relationship even when recognition was not on the table," he said.

Petkovic to Bislimi: Serbia will never recognize Kosovo (Klan)

Head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, Serbia Petar Petkovic reacted to the statements of the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Besnik Bislimi who said that Serbia is committed to recognizing Kosovo.

Petkovic said that Bislimi is misinterpreting Belgrade's readiness for dialogue with Pristina as Serbia's readiness to recognize Kosovo.

"Belgrade is committed to the normalization of relations with Pristina and the creation of a stable environment for the economic development of the entire region, but it will never recognize Kosovo and its unilateral and illegal declaration. And it will never agree with its membership in the UN," Petkovic said.

According to him, Bislimi is trying to use lies to encourage the change of attitude of the countries that do not recognize Kosovo. "The very fact that, by demanding a change in the position of some non-recognizing states, Kurti and Bislimi are misusing the dialogue for the normalization of relations to further destabilize the region, but also to show how malicious and insincere their intentions are," Petkovic said.

“Progress of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue can take its shape in Ohrid” (Klan)

North Macedonia's head of diplomacy Bujar Osmani estimated that the progress in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia could take its final form in the next round of negotiations in Ohrid, on March 18.

In an interview for the Racin.mk portal, he said that there are two potentially weak links in the Western Balkans, the Kosovo-Serbia dispute and the difficulties in the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to him, closing one of them will be an important step in the final stabilization of the region.

Osmani said that ‘the fact that serious progress has now been made in Brussels, the fact that this progress can take its final form in Ohrid, first of all, has its symbolism due to the success of the Ohrid Agreement, which provides a model for the solution of ethnic issues and it is the recognition of North Macedonia.’

The choice of Ohrid, Osmani emphasized, is the recognition of North Macedonia as an important actor in the region, namely as a contribution to stability and security in the region, thus reflecting, as he said, "our functional inter-ethnic democracy, the culture of compromise and the culture of dialogue, which is unfortunately becoming more and more rare not only in the region, but also in the world."

"In a way, we are becoming a point, a reference of how the European idea can be spread in these areas", said the head of diplomacy of North Macedonia, former head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bujar Osmani.

Giaufret: European proposal, a historic opportunity (media)

Head of the European Union (EU) delegation in Belgrade Emanuele Giaufret said that the European proposal is a "historic opportunity" and that "therefore it is excellent news" that the prime minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and the Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic agreed that there is no need for further discussion on the EU proposal.

"However, success comes with the actual implementation of the agreement." The high representative of the EU emphasized that all previous agreements from the dialogue remain valid and binding, and this of course includes the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serb majority, ‘and we will continue to insist on this urgent issue,’ he said in an interview with Kurir.

He said that "the positive sides of this new agreement should be seen," because it can bring new economic opportunities through increased financial aid, business cooperation and new investments in Kosovo and Serbia.

"It will be a turning point in the process of Serbia's integration into the EU," the European official said. According to him, the EU special representative Miroslav Lajcak will continue diplomatic efforts in March in Pristina and Belgrade in preparation for the next high-level meeting.

Analysis: No big deal: EU's Kosovo pact loses some sheen (Reuters)

Just days after the European Union trumpeted an agreement between the leaders of former wartime foes Serbia and Kosovo, all sides seem to agree on one thing above all: They don't actually have a deal yet.

After hosting talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday he was pleased to announce they had "agreed that no further discussions are needed" on an EU proposal to put their relations on a path to normalisation.

Borrell did caution that the pair still had to agree on an annex on implementing the plan but the EU's diplomatic service went ahead and published the text of the basic agreement that night, adding to the sense of a landmark moment.

Any agreement on normalising ties between Belgrade and Pristina would be a boost for the EU's ambitions to become a bigger geopolitical player and would reduce the risk of renewed violence between the two Balkan neighbours.