Osmani: There Is Agreement on Part of U.S. Plan on Dinar in Kosovo

Vjosa Osmani (Photo: YTPrintScreen)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said on March 18 that that there was agreement on a part of the U.S. proposal on the issue of the use of the Serbian dinar as currency in Kosovo, and that ideally agreement on the matter would be reached in Brussels on March 19 as part of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue at the chief negotiator level.

Osmani said it was a good thing that the international community, headed by the U.S., agreed that the dinar should not be in circulation in Kosovo.

During a visit to the Lipljan municipality, Osmani said that, with assistance from the U.S., the Kosovo authorities had managed to arrange for financial aid from Serbia to come in euros rather than dinars, adding that this would solve a large part of the problem faced in the past.

Speaking about the other part of the proposal, she said the Kosovo authorities were considering how to ensure that aid from Serbia for the Serb community in Kosovo not "fall into the hands" of corrupt individuals who have abused it, perhaps even taking the funds on behalf of citizens and then using it in organized crime, she said.

Osmani also said a plan for the implementation of the deal between Belgrade and Pristina made one year ago in Ohrid was being drafted in Brussels as there had hitherto been no full agreement between the two sides, adding that she as president did not agree with the plan set forth by officials in Brussels, saying it was unconscionable for Serbia to benefit at the beginning of the implementation, and Kosovo only at the end.