The Ambassador of Sweden in Kosovo, Jonas Westerlund, asks Kosovo and Serbia to implement the Brussels Basic Agreement and the Ohrid annex, reached in 2023. He emphasizes the need for the Government of Kosovo to move forward with the establishment of the Association of Majority Municipalities. Serbian. According to him, the Kosovar executive should send to the Constitutional Court the draft statute of the Association, drawn up by the European Union.

In an interview for KosovaPress, Westerlund also expressed support for Kosovo's Euro-integration path in the European Union, as well as Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. He also talks about the situation in the north of Kosovo and the opening of the Ibri bridge.

The Swedish diplomat says that the Brussels agreement and the Ohrid annex are legally binding for Kosovo and Serbia, so the obligations must be implemented without delay.

"Well, the official line of the EU at the moment is of course that the Brussels and Ohrid agreements are legally binding and they should be implemented as soon as possible, the ACS should also be implemented as soon as possible. And the next step is that the European Union is recommending the Government of Kosovo to submit the draft status of the AKS to the Constitutional Court here in Kosovo. Then again, we have new commissioners coming, in Brussels, we have a new team in Brussels, they have to take a look at this current situation and see if they can come up with new ideas to find a solution." , he declares.

Westerlund for KosovaPress, also provides numerous models for how to establish the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.

"Well, I mean, the official line of the European Union on this is that there is an obligation for the Government of Kosovo, all in 2013, but also in the Brussels and Ohrid agreements of last year that should establish this. And I think it would also be a good thing for Kosovo to do this... 06:15 There are plenty of models. I think that Mr. Miroslav Lajçak has mentioned that there are over 40 minorities and 40 types of organizations in Europe, one could be. I myself was part of the creation of a similar structure in Croatia in the 1990s, you can never compare one conflict to another, so nothing is really similar in that sense. But in the past in Croatia, in the 1990s, I was part of the creation of the Serbian National Council and that seems to have worked quite well in Croatia, and that was also agreed by Belgrade. There are many examples in Europe that could be copied. I don't think that the example of 'republika serbska' is necessarily 100 percent correct, because this is a different situation and you have a much smaller population of Kosovo Serbs if you compare it to the Serbs living in Bosnia", emphasizes Westerlund.

As for the security situation in the north, the Swedish ambassador says that it is still fragile, while also talking about the terrorist attack in Banjska, last year.

However, he also considers it necessary to return Serbs to institutions in the north. According to him, it was a serious misjudgment of the Serbs in the north who did not participate in the local elections and in the referendum for the removal of the current mayors in the four northern municipalities.

"Of course, I condemn the Banjska incident. We must return to the situation where we were before November 5, 2022. Many Kosovo Serbs in the north of Kosovo think that the situation is tense. They also think that there is a lack of trust between Kosovo Serbs and most institutions, including the Kosovo Police. I think it is important to return to a situation where the mayors are representatives of their local population. That you have the police representing the local population in the four northern municipalities. This, of course, means that the local population must participate in local elections. I think it was a serious misjudgment of the Kosovo Serbs not to participate in the local elections and not to participate in the referendum for mayors, in all four municipalities, but we have to look ahead. I think we should solve the current situation and have better representation from the local population", he emphasizes.

Westerlund also says that the Ibri bridge must be opened, but for such a thing the government must coordinate with the residents on both sides of the river and continue the dialogue.

He also gives the example of maritime tolerance, while also mentioning the need to restore the mosque in North Mitrovica.

"We have said that the bridge should be opened. The question is how and when, of course. I believe that the bridge should be opened, but it should be done in consultation with the population on both sides of the river, but we should continue the dialogue... I think it is important that this dialogue be between the local population, it is not only the dialogue of normalization between Serbia and Kosovo, but it is also at a local level, and especially in Mitrovica on both sides of the river. So we need to promote tolerance and unity, and I think one of the ways is to have local dialogue among the local population there...So if you can work with a local dialogue and discuss how we can clean up the river, the issues mutual, including the restoration of the mosque. the mosque which was built in 1777 and then destroyed in 1999, I think it will be a great symbol of Mitrovica to restore that mosque", he says.

In addition, he declares that Kosovo will benefit greatly from the European Union's Growth Plan for the countries of the Western Balkans.