Escobar with Kurti on dinar issue: I hope Kosovo govt will be flexible

“It’s an emerging humanitarian issue that we need to address immediately and I hope that the government is prepared to be flexible in these discussions on the dialogue on Tuesday,” US special envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar said following talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Thursday in Pristina.

Escobar was referring to the recent Central Bank of Kosovo (CBK) decision on the euro as the sole currency in Kosovo and its impact on the Serb community. Approximately 100,000 Kosovo Serbs receive salaries, pensions, social benefits and other payments from Serbian institutions in dinars yet they are now unable to collect their money, reported KoSSev.

US special envoy is paying a visit to Kosovo in an attempt to persuade the Kosovo government to be more flexible, as the entire international community has been voicing concern over the Kosovo authorities’ treatment of Kosovo Serbs.

He spoke positively about his meeting with Kurti, which was quite lengthy.

“We had a very good discussion, and I made it very clear that no one can hear the stories from some of the most vulnerable members of this community, which is the disabled, the retired, the students, and not be moved by their stories of how this decision has affected them. The prime minister acknowledged that and he did promise that he would look into some of the proposals that I made to him today,” said Escobar when asked if there will be any changes regarding the implementation of the CBK decision on the dinar.

At the same time, he commended the Kosovo prime minister for the decision “that he made” on giving the Decani monastery title to land.

“It was a difficult decision, but it was the right decision,” said Escobar, adding that he welcomes Kurti’s commitment to the rule of law and the decision made by the Constitutional Court.