Progressive Democratic Party (PDS) Chairman Nenad Rasic says that the visit of US Special Envoy to the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar and EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak in Pristina was intended to persuade the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti to accept the formation of the Association of Serb Municipalities.
In an interview for KosovaPress, Rasic estimated that in order to advance the dialogue, Kurti will have to leave his current position and show readiness for new ideas and initiatives to move from bunkering, as he says, to the real field of the political dialogue.
The Chairman of PDS thinks that the topic of talks between the two emissaries and representatives of Kosovo institutions may have been the holding and organization of elections of the Republic of Serbia in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo.
He emphasizes that the message that Escobar confirmed or promised to Prime Minister Kurti, that the future concept of ASM will not have executive powers, will be a step forward that can contribute to the continuation and increase of the dynamics of the dialogue.
“I really think it is very disturbing and irritating that Prime Minister Kurti is politically bunkered and does not show readiness for any idea, any innovation or initiative that could result in a common understanding, or move from bunkering to the field of a real dialogue that could result in changes, or at least the provision of ideas of what that Association of Serbian Municipalities should look like. I think this did not benefit anyone, especially the Kosovo Serbs in the long run, and I am also sure that neither the Kosovo Albanians nor Prime Minister Kurti are in favor of what I called a political bunkering,” said Rasic.
Rasic also states that there is no readiness to implement the recommendation of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo from 2015, which emphasizes that the ASM should be created according to the Constitution and laws of Kosovo.
He says he is confident that a way can be found to suggest what such a document should look like to be acceptable to both negotiating parties.
“But as I said in the beginning, there is no will on either side. In this case, I think this ‘bunkering’ does not go in anyone’s favor, and I think that Escobar himself, will use our popular term, to push the prime minister and others from that position, starting from the Speaker of the Assembly and others, to make it clear that this is a serious situation and that it is probably time to do something about it, because I believe that the Biden administration, which is now new, and this Escobar’s first visit, I believe, will be more concrete than the previous ones. I hope that this will contribute and at least increase the desire for some more concrete steps in the further direction of the formation of ASM”, said Rasic.
The PDS leader recalls that Kosovo Serbs have the right to participate in elections in both countries under the Kosovo Constitution and Martti Ahtisaari’s plan for dual citizenship, and that one of the basic human rights is to vote in elections of the country where one is a citizen.
He says that the referendum of the Republic of Serbia on January 16 was not sufficiently prepared for its realization in Kosovo, but that in the case of the next elections in April there should be a broader context of understanding that would enable Serbs to vote.
“But let’s leave this aside, we will now see how much power the EU and the US have over Prime Minister Kurti, because at least we need to have a broader context to understand what the vote of April 4. really means. So far, I have not seen that breadth of understanding. I think this is also wrong in the long run. I think that we should work on preserving the communities that in this case are the so-called weakest link in this whole society, and if the Prime Minister does not want to protect the communities, then I really think it is contrary to the EU’s aspirations for rights. Human rights, especially the rights of communities, should be one of the first priorities of all countries, especially those who intend to be part of the EU”, stressed Rasic.
He thinks that the visit of Lajçak and Escobar will give energy to the dialogue and that it remains to be seen whether this will be accepted by the institutions.
Commenting on the information that some people close to the ruling SNS in Serbia have been blacklisted, Rasic says that the United States is more informed than any other government and that they have analyzed it in detail before making a decision.
“I will only talk about those whose actions I had the opportunity to see, and it was very clear that some turbulent actions were taking place, that it was created in a way that certain groups would constantly win tenders and were constantly receiving millions, but more importantly, I would very much like the Treasury to deal with this as well. Let’s see which European institutions have financed the same companies and now they are silent and do not report that they have financed such groups of people who in this case are on the American treasury list”, said Rasic.
He adds that he would ask the EU High Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, if he knows how much EU-sponsored money has been given to companies in the north without full documentation.
“Do you know the amount and which companies have benefited under the auspices of the EU in the north, and for which neither the closing of the documents nor the completion of the project has been done”, said Rasic for KosovaPress.
