The leaders of the most powerful European countries asked Kosovo to start the procedure for the establishment of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, while Serbia to recognize de-facto Kosovo. This is stated in a joint statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which was published late Friday after the EU Summit. The call of the European leaders came after meetings with the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić in Brussels. Also present at these meetings were the President of the European Council Charles Michel, the chief of the European diplomacy Josep Borrell, as well as the EU representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, who presented a plan to the parties, the details of which have not been revealed yet.

The statement of the European leaders reads: “the European draft statute on the Association includes a modern approach to addressing the sensitive issue of the protection of minorities in accordance with the best European practices and standards.

“We underline once again our expectation from the parties to fulfill their obligations for the implementation of the Agreement on the road to normalization. The implementation should move ahead with both parties fulfilling their respective obligations in parallel, step by step based on the principle that they must do something to get something in return. Now attention must be focused on advancing the full implementation of the agreement without any preconditions or delays,” the statement said.

Further, the European leaders called on Kosovo to “start the procedure for the establishment of the Association, as laid down in the draft statute, while Serbia should deliver on de-facto recognition.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, for his part, said in a press conference that the draft proposed by the Western envoys on October 21 in Pristina, was written carefully and in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo.
He said that during the meetings in Brussels he was ready to sign the European proposal for the Association, while he accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić of rejecting it.
The Serbian President, for his part, said after the meetings in Brussels that “we are fully ready for establishing the Association in accordance with the proposals received”, adding that “Serbia cannot accept Kosovo’s membership in the United Nations or independence and the territorial integrity of Kosovo”. The Ohrid agreement reached on March 18 stated that Kosovo and Serbia should not hinder each other in the integration processes, but it does not require mutual recognition. The plan also envisages the fulfillment of all agreements previously reached in EU-mediated talks.
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