US, EU ask Kosovo to implement agreements if it wants to join EU, NATO

Hovenier told a conference in Pristina that Kosovo can move forward on the European path only through dialogue with Serbia.

The US Ambassador said the international community wants Kosovo to advance on the European path, that it has created the conditions for it to achieve this, and that the only way is through dialogue mediated by the EU. We hope to see efforts to move forward, he added.

With the mediation of the EU, Kosovo and Serbia reached the Agreement on the path to normalization of relations on February 27, 2023.

The EU said that, although not signed, the agreement is binding for both parties, yet it is not being implemented.

Hovenier said the international community and partners would treat Kosovo differently if it were implementing the obligations under the agreement, if they adopted the draft statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) that is not in violation of the Kosovo Constitution, and if they were moving toward the decision of the Constitutional Court for the Decani Monastery.

Head of the EU office in Kosovo Szunyog said he shares the US Ambassador’s opinion.

However, Kosovo Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Donika Gervalla said “it is impossible to hold talks with a state that is preparing for war.”

“When you have a party that is against dialogue and shows concrete actions like the event of September 24 (in Banjska, Zvecan) when we had an attack against the Republic of Kosovo and we claim that we have dialogue in Brussels, then every student will understand that this is not what is taught in school about a dialogue process,” said Gervalla.