The European Union (EU) warned today that the latest actions by Kosovo authorities against Serbian-backed structures, which include their closure, are contrary to Pristina's obligations to the Union as part of the process of normalizing relations with Belgrade.
As Kosovo authorities today closed all municipal and post office facilities operating in the Serbian system south of the Ibar, EU spokesperson Anita Hipper pointed out that Kosovo must demonstrate its commitment to the commitments it made in the EU-facilitated dialogue and its recent confirmation that it is committed to those commitments.
The EU Council conclusions on enlargement for 2024 state that the EU will gradually lift the measures introduced in Kosovo in parallel with further steps by Pristina towards de-escalating tensions in the north, but the latest actions by the Kosovo authorities do not support that goal, according to a statement by the EU spokesperson, published on the website of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
It is also stated that the status of structures supported by Serbia in Kosovo is planned to be resolved within the framework of a dialogue under the auspices of the EU.
In accordance with its mandate, the EU Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is monitoring the actions of the Kosovo authorities against Serbian-backed structures, carried out in the midst of the election campaign for the parliamentary elections on February 9, it added.
Kosovo Interior Minister Xheljalj Sveclja said today that members of the police and other ministries have closed 10 "parallel Serbian institutions" south of the Ibar bridge - in Lipjan, Obilić, Pristina, Kosovo Polje, Vučitrn, Novo Brdo, Kamenica, Vitina, Orahovac and Srbica, as well as the offices of the Post of Serbia and the tax office, and that this is ending the "era of parallel and criminal Serbian municipalities" in Kosovo.
The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petković, stated that he left today's meeting in Brussels with the outgoing EU Special Representative for Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, and that he expressed a strong protest to him over the incursion of Kosovo forces into Serbian institutions in Kosovo.
The first meeting of the Joint Commission on Missing Persons was announced for today. Lajčák announced that he had spoken to both sides separately, that Kosovo had presented its priorities, and that Serbia had informed him that it would not participate in the joint meeting due to today's events in Kosovo.
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