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The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, has said that the European Union (EU) "does not have the competence" to propose to Kosovo a draft statute for the formation of an Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, although the Kosovar authorities have accepted one such in principle, under the mediation of the bloc.
"I think that the European Union has no competence to propose an Association to Kosovo. It is a mistake to think that it is the competence of the EU to assign us [draft status for the Association], while it is our competence to send it to the Constitutional Court. I don't think it is the competence of the EU to propose a draft to Kosovo, and Kosovo should stay ready and send the draft that the EU proposes. I do not agree with this procedure", said Konjufca.
Konjufca was answering questions about the statement of the American ambassador to Kosovo, Jeff Hovenier, who said the day before that he advised the Government of Kosovo to seek the opinion of the Constitutional Court as soon as possible on a draft statute drawn up last year by West for the establishment of the Association.
"There will be an answer if [the document] is constitutional or not, it will be known if it has executive powers or not, and we think that only the Court can give that assessment. Something like this will create a different dynamic and will reflect Kosovo's commitment to fulfill its obligations", said Hovenier on Thursday during a conversation with journalists at the American Embassy building in Pristina.
In October last year, Western diplomats presented Kosovo and Serbia with a draft statute for the formation of the Association, which was drawn up by the EU and which the parties said they accept.
Regarding this document, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, had assured at the time that it was written "carefully and in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo".
But, at the end of December, Kurti said that Kosovo should be the author of the statute and suggested that it should be written by itself, in cooperation with his Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rashić, and with the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi. .
This statement was a reaction to a message from the EU's special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, that the issue of the statute is an internal issue of Kosovo.
Kosovo and Serbia first reached an agreement on the Association in 2013, and then in 2015 on the principles for its establishment.
In 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo found that the agreement was not in full compliance with the Constitution, therefore official Prishtina refuses to implement that agreement.
On the other hand, Belgrade has insisted that the Association be formed as agreed in Brussels, and not that some points be harmonized with the Constitution of Kosovo, as proposed by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo.
Both countries are part of the dialogue mediated by the EU, for the normalization of relations, since 2011. /REL
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