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The spokesperson of the European Union (EU), Petar Stano, said on Wednesday that Kosovo risks falling behind on its path to membership in the bloc, due to what he called its unilateral actions.
He called on Kosovo and Serbia to focus on fulfilling the obligations arising from the agreements they agreed to in the dialogue mediated by the EU.
Kosovo has recently been constantly criticized by the EU, due to the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo to prohibit the use of the Serbian dinar for cash transactions throughout the country, as well as the closure of several parallel Serbian municipalities in Dragash and Peja. .
The EU has called these decisions unilateral and requested that Kosovo resolve these issues in talks with Serbia in the dialogue mediated by it.
" We are seeing many things that we have reacted to, especially in the case of Kosovo, with unilateral actions that have created concern for us. This creates fear on our side that Kosovo may remain outside and fall behind ," said Stano.
Kosovo applied for EU membership in 2022 and is the only country from the Western Balkans that has not yet gained the status of a candidate country.
The CBK regulation, which requires the euro to be the only currency that can be used for cash payments throughout the country, came into effect on February 1, despite heavy international pressure to delay its implementation.
The Minister for Communities and Return in the Government of Kosovo, Nenad Rashič, said on Wednesday that during a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, they agreed that the CBK regulation on the ban of the dinar is in a transition period.
The decision to abolish the dinar in Kosovo coincides with the closure of parallel municipalities that work in the Serbian system and are illegal for Kosovo.
In the last two weeks, four parallel Serbian municipalities in Dragash and Peja have been closed.
Stano said that he sees no danger of blocking the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Stano, despite the lack of progress in the last few meetings.
" The dialogue is continuing and our work is continuing to help the parties finally start to behave constructively and move forward. We are not afraid of any blockade, in fact we are not afraid of anything. But I'm only afraid that people in Kosovo and Serbia will be left out of what is important to them, the integration process ," Stano emphasized.
He added that "we continue our work and Special Representative Miroslav Lajçak, as well as High Representative Joseph Borrell are continuing to work with partners, both in the region and on the international stage, to enable both sides to start taking steps that would enable them to advance in all issues in the dialogue... especially in the implementation of all that was achieved last year both in Brussels and in Ohrid".
According to the EU, Kosovo and Serbia reached the Agreement for the normalization of relations and the Annex for its implementation at the beginning of 2023. However, they are not being implemented, despite international pressure./ REL
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