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DW: What international guarantee is the president of Kosovo talking about?

2024-07-18 10:29:17Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
DW: What international guarantee is the president of Kosovo talking about?
Miroslav Lajcak and Vjosa Osmani

The President of Kosovo has requested guarantees from international partners for the implementation of obligations from the Ohrid Agreement and the establishment of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority. What is the guarantee?

Official Pristina is constantly under pressure to establish the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority. According to the heads of state of Kosovo, the creation of the Association does not mean that Kosovo is ready to make concessions that harm its functionality. 

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has requested guarantees from international partners for the implementation of the obligations arising from the Ohrid agreement, alluding to the issue of the establishment of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority, as the issue where the official Pristina is under the most pressure.

Kosovo's guarantees, according to the President, are related to security and international support for Kosovo's membership in international organizations, which would bring, according to her, more peace and security in the region. President Osmani made these comments to the American media during her last visit to the USA. The ambassadors of the QUINT countries have several times asked the Kosovo government to send the EU draft of the Association to the Constitutional Court, but the government has not proceeded further.

No concessions that harm the functionality of the state

"The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the decisions of the Constitutional Court, especially the one from 2015, have clarified the procedure. So, there must be an act from the government that approves that document and then I can send it to the Constitutional Court. but not without such an act first, said President Osmani. However, according to the president, "the creation of the Association does not mean that Kosovo is ready to make concessions that damage its functionality, its borders, the principle of the unity of the state and the principles that are in the current Constitution and in the judgment of the Constitutional Court". According to the president, the Association can be created, but only within these limits, without jeopardizing Kosovo or the security in the region in the future.

Kurti: International draft, not local

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, for his part, has so far refused to send the EU draft for the Association to the Constitutional Court for consideration, saying that it is not a document of Kosovo's institutions and as such it cannot send an international document for consideration. The prime minister suggests that international documents, such as the draft proposed by the EU envoy, Miroslav Lajcak, be sent to the Council of Europe or the Venice Commission.

"The five emissaries have brought a draft that is an international draft, not a local one. In the Constitutional Court we send documents that are local, let a document that is international go to be tested in an international instance. Let Lajcak's draft be freely sent to the jurists in Council of Europe and the Venice Commission. I will take my document to the Constitutional Court," stated Kurti firmly. The Prime Minister argues that he can write a draft, but "it must be part of the package where we have the basic agreement and I do not deny that the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority would have its own place. But you cannot take the Association out of the package, throw away the package and make an international draft for this Association and test it in the Constitutional Court". 

The draft does not require changes to the Constitution of Kosovo

The US ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, has stated several times that the EU draft for the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, "is a powerful opportunity for Kosovo".

"It is not an unofficial document, but it was carefully prepared by a delegation of senior international representatives. This included the highest person of the European Union, national security advisers, advisers from Germany, France, Italy, as well as the envoy of especially of the USA for Kosovo and Serbia. The draft aims to create an Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, addressing all the concerns raised," Hovenier stated, adding that "this draft does not require changes to the Constitution of Kosovo and does not has executive power".

Constitutionality of the Articles of Association

How do analysts view this whole situation of non-coordination of Kosovo's institutions with international partners and the refusal of the Kosovo government to send the EU draft for the Association to the Constitutional Court for review?

Ehat Miftaraj from the Kosovo Institute for Law, told DW that the practices of the Constitutional Court are clear. "Based on the applicable law in Kosovo and the practice established by the Constitutional Court, the only way to assess the constitutionality of the Statute of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is the approval of the same by the government to pave the way for authorized parties where the Office of the President also enters to send the same to the Constitutional Court for evaluation", says MIftaraj. According to him, the position of the president is based on the applicable law in Kosovo and the practices already established by the Constitutional Court. Miftaraj says that after the approval of the same document from the side of the government, the authorized party can be the Assembly of Kosovo, the deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo, but also the Institution of the People's Advocate. 

"Based on the public positions of the President, we can understand that she is trying to maintain the necessary discourse and cooperation with international partners in an effort to change the narrative where Kosovo is seen as an obstacle in the dialogue, which is also affecting the relationship between Kosovo with the EU on the way to European integration, financial aid but also the fact that Kosovo is still under punitive measures from the EU. The approval of the Statute must be passed by the government and there is no authority outside the government that can fulfill this international obligation in 2013 and reconfirmed by the Kurti government with the last agreement in Brussels and the Ohrid plan", says Ehat Miftaraj.

The European Union awaits the comments of the parties

Kosovo and Serbia have until July 18 to send their comments to the mediators of the European Union regarding the implementation of the agreement on the normalization of relations between the two countries, which the parties agreed on last year in Brussels and Ohrid, Macedonia. North. Government officials have declared that they will send the comments to Brussels in time.

Even the European Union is waiting for the comments of the parties to draft a new proposal on this process. The representatives of the member states of the European Union have agreed to extend the mandate of the EU's special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak, until January 2025. The agreement was reached after the high representative of the EU- for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, had appointed Lajcak as the EU ambassador to Switzerland, who was supposed to start work on September 1, immediately after the expiration of his mandate in the role of facilitator of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. But, according to EU officials, with the extension of Lajcak's mandate in the role of dialogue facilitator for another five months, the EU wants to ensure that there is no vacuum in this matter until his successor is appointed.


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