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The Speaker of the Parliament of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, said on Monday that the drafting of a draft statute for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority is not the competence of the European Union, while criticizing the bloc for an unfair and discriminatory approach to Kosovo.
"So they imposed on Kosovo in this way, they say this is the document and only this 20 pages and there is no other and only this should go to the Constitutional Court, I think not that it is not fair to Kosovo but I think that it is an approach very discriminatory of the European Union, which treats Kosovo as a non-state", said Mr. Konjufca.
In October of last year, the highest European officials asked Kosovo to establish the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and submitted a draft statute for it, while Serbia fulfilled the parts of the agreement that lead to the 'de facto' recognition of Kosovo, according to the agreement reached between the parties in Brussels and Ohrid.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, at that time said that he was ready to sign the proposal for the Association, which provides for the Constitutional Court to evaluate the constitutionality, and according to him, it was carefully written to the letter and the constitutional structure of the country.
But, since that time, there has been no movement, while Kosovo and Serbia have accused each other of not fulfilling the agreement.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O'Brien, said last week after a visit to Pristina and Belgrade that he expects Kosovo to send the draft statute of the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority for review by the Constitutional Court, while emphasizing that this mechanism does not create a government or another layer of power.
Mr. Konjufca said that Kosovo has accepted the draft statute for review, while emphasizing that it will insist on its right to propose a draft statute for the Association.
" The European Union cannot put you in front of the committed act, saying this we wrote and announced and sent this because this is Kosovo's version. This is not the version of Kosovo, it is the version of the EU. The EU version can be consultative, which we take, in which we can take certain clauses that are reasonable for us, but no, I was told that this is 100 percent and you can't change even one percent because then this practice is accepted or allowed. I am against this and I would call this a discriminatory approach of the EU and a denial of Kosovo's citizenship ", said Mr. Konjufca.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties criticized the government's approach and for changing opinions against the European Union's proposal for the establishment of the Association.
"If Mr. Konjufca said this is unacceptable, I do not accept the draft at all with a comment, whether it is in accordance with the Constitution or not, that you cannot impose such a document on the state of Kosovo, but at that time he spoke in affirmative terms and has called it an important document and in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo and today we saw the other Glaucus. So these are frivolous and are not the attitudes of a statesman with state attitudes, this is a miserable situation", said the head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Abelard Tahiri.
"Kosovo must implement its obligations, but it must implement them by guaranteeing that the decision of the Constitutional Court or its opinion on the principles of the statute is implemented, preserving the territorial integrity of Kosovo and preserving the unitary character of the state of Kosovo. So we have shown the criteria and we have the advice on how to solve the issue", said the head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Arben Gashi.
European Union officials say the deal the parties agreed to last year is legally binding. According to them, the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations is at the center of the European engagement around the Western Balkans and that the progress in the implementation of the agreement is closely related to the progress of both parties in the integration processes./ VOA
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