EU Spokesman: EU Institutions, together with Belgrade and Pristina, Set To Start Implementing Ohrid Deal on Normalizing Ties

Peter Stano (Photo: YouTube)

In the coming days, the EU institutions, with the support of the EU leaders, will make the first steps toward implementation of the Ohrid agreement together with Kosovo and Serbia, Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson for the EU external affairs, has told BETA in Brussels.  

Stano said that Belgrade and Pristina had obligations to fulfill the provisions of the agreement from Ohrid [North Macedonia] and also the annex concerning the implementation, stressing that otherwise they would be leaving the EU path.

Stano recalled the statement by [EU High Representative] Josep Borrell saying that he would “be advising the two sides in doing their job” relating to implantation of the Agreement on the path to normalization between Kosovo and Serbia, including the annex concerning the implementation.

Stano also said that international reputation of and trust in Kosovo and Serbia would be at stake here, adding that “they will have to prove themselves as trustful partners of the EU and therefore it is necessary for them to implement what they have promised.”

The EU spokesman further said that the provisions of the agreement and the annex would be incorporated into Chapter 35 [Other issues] in the EU negotiations with Serbia and the Special Group on normalization with Kosovo.

“It means,” Stano stressed “that the two sides will be obliged to fulfill the provision of the agreement if they want to progress toward EU membership, while failure to implement them would mean leaving the EU path.”