EU Urges Belgrade and Pristina To Fulfill Commitments

Brussels (Photo:PrintScreen YouTube)

The EU urges Serbia and Kosovo to with no further delay or preconditions fulfill the commitments deriving from the Agreement on the path to normalization between Kosovo and Serbia and the implementation Annex to the agreement, including creation of an Association of Serb-majority Municipalities. The EU also calls on the European Commission and the high representative to by end-January 2024, recommend changes and supplements to the criteria contained in Chapter 35 (Other issues) for accession negotiations with Serbia.

This is said in a final draft version of the conclusions of the European Council meeting taking place this week, which are to be discussed by the ministers for European affairs in Brussels on Dec. 12.

The draft conclusions, which BETA has seen, state that normalization of relations and implementation of the commitments deriving from the Dialogue are the critical criteria on the EU path of Serbia and Kosovo, which are risking to miss the significant opportunities if they fail to make progress.

“The Council reminds that Serbia’s progress in the rule of law and normalization of relations with Kosovo will continue to determine the overall pace of accession negotiations,” it is said in the conclusions, which, inter alia, again underlined the concerns with the situation of press freedom and treatment of war crimes in Serbia.