Kurti Proposes Five-Point Plan for De-escalating the Situation in North Kosovo

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Kosovo Premier Kosova Albin Kurti on June 13 said that he had handed his five-point plan for de-escalating the situation in North Kosovo to EU High Representative Josep Borrell and the ambassadors of the Quint countries.

“Criminal groups must be immediately identified and processed,” Kurti said about the first point of his plan. The second point refers to instant withdrawal of “violent groups, their return to Serbia and putting an end to criminal activities.”

The plan also proposes that the Kosovo police and KFOR or EULEX conduct joint security assessments on a 15-day basis. After implementation of these three points, snap mayoral elections in four Serb-majority municipalities in North Kosovo would be held, Kurti said.

The fifth point, according to Kurti, proposes return to the negotiating table of Kosovo and Serbia with the aim of normalizing relations and holding a too-level meeting as soon as possible. Asked about a potential top-level meeting, Kurti said that the EU had not yet replied to his request for organizing the meeting as soon as possible.

Kurti also said he was listening to “the advices” of the international community representatives, but stressed that the decisions relating to Kosovo should be made by the Kosovo government. Speaking at a news conference, Kurti also said he had confidence in democratic values of the West, the U.S. and the EU.

Commenting the draft Statute of the Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama had handed to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Kurti said that Rama could present the document to Belgrade for settling the needs of the ethnic Albanians in Serbia’s south.