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On Monday, Aivo Orav assumed the position of new ambassador of the European Union Office in Kosovo, succeeding the Czech Tomas Szunyog, who held this post from 2020, the EU Office announced.
Oravo, an Estonian diplomat with nearly 30 years of experience in European and national diplomacy, will have an initial term of two years.
In the past, he served as the permanent representative of Estonia to the EU and as the head of the EU delegations in Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Orav said that he felt satisfaction and responsibility in taking the post of the head of the EU Office in Kosovo.
"I pledge that I will work side by side with the EU's local and international partners in Kosovo, to advance our diplomatic and political relations, I will consolidate the position of the EU as the most important donor, trade partner and investor of Kosovo, as well as I will support the European path of Kosovo and the reforms related to the EU", said Orav.
Considering the geopolitical situation, Orav promised to coordinate with all EU representatives in Kosovo, including EULEX, "to promote a stable, peaceful, democratic and multi-ethnic Kosovo", the announcement states. .
"During my mandate, my vision is for Kosovo to progress more decisively on its path to the EU, which will bring lasting benefits to its people," he said.
He also expressed his willingness to contribute to a new dynamic in the relations between Kosovo and the EU, which could make possible the resumption of EU financial assistance to Kosovo.
The EU imposed measures on Kosovo a year ago in response to the escalation of the security situation in the north of Kosovo, when Albanian mayors - emerging from elections that were boycotted by local Serbs - began their duties in the municipalities in the north.
After the punitive measures, Kosovo was left out of the grants that the EU approved in July last year, in the amount of 2.1 billion euros.
Orav takes office at a time when Kosovo was again criticized by the EU, after it closed five parallel Serbian institutions in the north of the country.
On Monday, EU spokesman Peter Stano reiterated the stance expressed by the bloc that these actions are "unilateral and uncoordinated, with the potential to increase tensions."
The Government of Kosovo has said that the closed institutions in the north of Kosovo were working under the leadership of Serbia, "violating the constitutionality and laws of the Republic of Kosovo".
In addition to the five institutions closed last Friday, in April the Kosovo authorities closed seven other parallel Serbian municipalities in other parts of Kosovo.
In Kosovo, there are municipalities, public companies and enterprises, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and public universities that are directly financed by the Government of Serbia, and which are located in the cities and towns where the Serbian community lives.
According to the laws in Kosovo, these institutions are illegal.
In 2013, Kosovo and Serbia, in the dialogue for the normalization of relations in Brussels, reached an agreement on the abolition of parallel institutions, but this agreement has not yet been fully implemented./ REL
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