Scholz, Macron, Meloni to Kurti: Lajcak’s proposal for CSM enjoys our support

According to the Pristina media, they said there is a real risk that, without decisive progress on the establishment of the Community/Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, Kosovo’s application to the Council of Europe will not receive sufficient support.

“Regrettably, the steps you propose fall short from addressing the urgent need for decisive steps for the establishment of the Community/Association of Serb-majority Municipalities and risk to undermine further the EU-facilitated Dialogue. First, the draft statute presented by the EU Special Representative for the Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, is not a mere 'gentleman's proposal'. It is a solid model, drafted carefully with the help of European lawyers and experts, based on existing best practices in Europe. It fully takes into account all your red lines as well as the Kosovo constitutional and legal framework. As such, it enjoys our full support. Let us stress once against that we do not want a dysfunctional Kosovo,” said Scholz, Macron and Meloni in their letter.

The leaders of the three countries stressed that the Community/Association of Serb-majority Municipalities proposed by the EU “is in no way comparable to Republika Srpska.”

“Secondly, submitting this draft to the experts of the Council of Europe would not constitute a necessary decisive step since their opinion will not be legally binding. This can be achieved only by sending it to Kosovo’s Constitutional Court, in a manner to be admissible to the Court. As clarified with Brussels, there are no legal impediments in the EU-facilitated Dialogue for taking this step. Thirdly, your proposal to prepare a new draft in consultation of the current mayors or deputies is neither appropriate nor viable due to the current circumstances in these municipalities,” they said.

This letter was sent a day before the Kosovo Government wrote to Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Theodoros Rousopoulos saying that the Government is drafting a CSM statute that will be submitted to the Kosovo Constitutional Court by end of May.