Kurti-Vucic, Escobar clash: Signing or not signing the agreements does not affect the obligation to implement them

2023-11-03 22:15:41Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Kurti-Vucic, Escobar clash: Signing or not signing the agreements does not
Gabriel Escobar

The American envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar told the Voice of America that the agreements that Serbia and Kosovo have reached are a legal obligation for both parties and that signing them or not does not affect the obligation they have to implement them .

In the last meeting with the European leaders in Brussels, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that he is ready to accept and sign the draft statute for the establishment of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority, while Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made it clear that he will not accept nothing that implies the de-facto recognition of Kosovo.

Asked how to proceed further after these positions, Mr. Escobar said that these two statements do not reflect reality since those agreements are legally binding, which both leaders have accepted as he said.

Likewise, he said that both leaders have made this commitment before the European Union and the United States and that the parties have specific obligations to undertake, on the way to normalization; Kosovo Association and Serbia recognition of Kosovo's customs documents, license plates, identity cards and others like these, Mr. Escobar said.

The US official said that the United States fully supports the dialogue and that what remains is only related to when and how both sides will implement their obligations.

Resignation of the Head of the Serbian Intelligence Agency

Asked about today's resignation of the head of the Serbian Intelligence Agency (BIA) Aleksandar Vulin, Mr. Escobar said that he has been an extremely destabilizing figure in the region for a long time, which is what the US sanctions were based on.

Regarding Aleksandar Vulini's comments that he resigned because Washington and Brussels were asking for such a thing as a precondition for not imposing sanctions on Serbia, Mr. Escobar said that "we (the US) do not make decisions on behalf of the Serbian government."


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