Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has once again called for the lifting of the European Union's punitive measures against Kosovo, while her Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics has said that the country he leads is in the same line.
They made these comments at a joint media conference in Pristina.
"The restrictive measures must be lifted, I don't know if the second anniversary of these measures will be marked, but Latvia's position is clear, the restrictive measures must be lifted and we will continue to advocate for this," said the Latvian president.
The European bloc imposed restrictive measures against Kosovo in June 2023, holding the Kosovo authorities guilty of escalating the situation in the north of the country.
Kosovo considers these measures unjust and considers that it has met all the conditions for their lifting.
President Osmani thanked the state of Latvia for its continued support for Kosovo's goals for membership in international organizations.
"Latvia understands Kosovo's position best, given that both our countries have a painful and very difficult past, and we border aggressive neighboring states. However, like Latvia, Kosovo is deeply committed to Euro-Atlantic values, to the principle of good neighborliness, always preserving our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Osmani said.
She also called on the European bloc to find ways to advance the process for Kosovo to have candidate country status.
During the conference, President Rinkevich said that his country will work to advance Kosovo's path to the European Union, although he could not promise that this country will secure candidate country status this year.
Kosovo has applied for EU membership at the end of 2022, but its application has not yet been considered.
"Latvia fully supports Kosovo's integration into international organizations, and we discussed membership in the Council of Europe at length and believe that this membership could pave the way for other international organizations as well," said Rinkevics.
He did not rule out the possibility of cooperation between the two countries in the field of defense.
Regarding the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue,
the President of Kosovo was also asked during the conference about issues of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, more specifically whether the new European envoy for this process, Peter Sorensen, has commented further on the remarks she presented regarding the West's draft statute for the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities.
Osmani said that Sorensen was more informed about this issue at their meeting held on March 17 in Pristina, as he is at the beginning of his mandate, and that he expects equal treatment in this process.
However, Osmani said he believes that the draft statute is not in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, nor with the norms and values of the EU and the Council of Europe, nor is it in accordance with the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the Association.
"He wouldn't even pass the test in this court," Osmani declared.
Her Latvian counterpart has said that she considers the dialogue a very sensitive topic with its ups and downs.
He said that it is very important that the dialogue be revived and that new conditions be created on which the parties will be equal, because only then will there be results.
"Dialogue is the only solution for Kosovo and Serbia's EU membership. If we want to achieve that goal, both sides must be engaged," Rinkevics said, among other things.
The EU had submitted to Kosovo and Serbia a draft statute for the Association in 2023, which was also supported by the United States.
Even at that time, President Osmani said that the document should be subject to evaluation by the Constitutional Court.
Since then, the EU and the US have asked Kosovo to send this draft statute to the Constitutional Court, but this has not yet happened.
Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement on the establishment of the Association in 2013 and two years later on the principles of the Association. The Constitutional Court of Kosovo said in 2015 that the agreement on the principles was not fully in line with the Constitution, requiring 23 of its points to be harmonized.
So far, Kosovo has refused to establish the Association, while Serbia insists that the agreements on this issue be implemented./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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