European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Monday that the closure of Serbian Post Office branches in northern Kosovo violates agreements reached in the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.

“The European Union considers today’s closure of nine Post of Serbia branches in the north of Kosovo by the Kosovo authorities a unilateral and uncoordinated step, which violates agreements reached under the EU-facilitated Dialogue,” Stano said in a written statement.

The statement recalled that Belgrade and Pristina agreed to discuss postal services at some later stage “thereby acknowledging that the issue can only be addressed within the framework of the Dialogue”. “This has been recognized again today by Kosovo’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic and Postal Services,” Stano added.

According to Stano, the European Union is prepared to include the issue in the next Dialogue meeting.

“The EU expects the Parties to develop constructive ideas that could serve as a basis for solutions. Unilateral and uncoordinated actions cannot offer solutions to this or any other issue that belongs to the normalization process between Kosovo and Serbia. Closing existing services of Kosovo Serbs, without any new prior agreed arrangement, will further negatively affect the daily lives and living conditions of this community. We call on the Kosovo government to reconsider its decision and to find a negotiated solution to this issue in the framework of the EU-facilitated Dialogue,” Stano said in the statement.