O’Brien requests “urgent progress” for the Association’s establishment in Kosovo

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, James O’Brien, has asked Kosovo to make “urgent progress” regarding the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

During a meeting held in Germany with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, O’Brien said that in order for Kosovo to move towards Euro-Atlantic integration, it must implement the commitments that come out of the dialogue for the normalization of relations with Serbia, which is mediated by the European Union and is supported by Washington.

“The USA supports Kosovo’s path towards Euro-Atlantic integration. In order to move forward, we need the implementation of EU-mediated dialogue commitments, including urgent progress regarding the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities. Today I discussed with Prime Minister Kurti about the positive steps that are necessary”, he wrote on X, which was previously known as Twitter, writes REL.

Within the dialogue for the normalization of relations, which is mediated by the European Union, Kosovo and Serbia have reached an agreement in 2013 and then in 2015 for the establishment of the Association.

In 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo said that the Agreement on the principles for the establishment of the Association was not in full compliance with the Constitution.

Also, the establishment of the Association is included in the Agreement on the way to the normalization of relations that the parties reached last year.

The EU and the USA have repeatedly called on Kosovo to establish the Association. Last year, the international community presented Kosovo and Serbia with a draft statute for the Association.

The parties initially accepted the draft statute, but no steps have yet been taken towards its establishment.

Also, last year, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the Agreement on the road to normalization. This agreement, according to the EU, has not yet been implemented by the parties.

The agreement of 11 articles, among other things, foresees a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while asking Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue.