Quint countries greatly disappointed with Pristina's decision; Kurti: "No deal"

Quint countries greatly disappointed with Pristina's decision; Kurti: "No deal"

The Quint countries stated that they are very disappointed with the decision of Pristina to reject the constructive proposal made by Quint regarding the voting on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija.

In a joint statement, they assessed that such an attitude would "undermine Pristina's European aspirations".

"France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States have worked intensively in recent months" with the governments of Pristina and Belgrade to find a "pragmatic solution" to enable Kosovo citizens to exercise their right to vote in Serbia's April 3, 2022 elections", Quint said in a statement published on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Serbia.

According to them, Quint accepts the right of the Pristina government to "decide whether or not to vote in another state's elections" and appreciates "Serbia's availability in seeking a solution", but "welcomes with great disappointment the government's decision" in Pristina to reject "a constructive proposal" which was presented by Quint".

With such a decision, Pristina, according to the five states, failed to "show its commitment to the principle of protection of civil and political rights of all its citizens, including members of minority groups."

Such an attitude of the Pristina government is not in line with "our values ​​and principles and will undermine their European aspirations," Quint stated.

They expect Pristina to adhere to key values ​​and responsibilities towards regional stability and to respect democratic processes, as well as to dedicate itself to protecting the rights of members of minority groups.

Quint also expects the temporary institutions in Pristina to act in the interest of all its citizens, to work on reducing tensions and to constructively dedicate themselves to the dialogue on the normalization of relations with Belgrade, with the mediation of the EU.

"This is crucial in order to make progress towards a comprehensive normalization agreement that will ultimately open the EU's perspective for Kosovo. We reiterate our strong call for Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from any actions and rhetoric that increase tensions and lead to incidents", Quint members announced.

Kurti: We did not ban, but we hadn't reached an agreement

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said today that the Government of Kosovo did not decide not to hold Serbian elections in Kosovo, but that there was no previous agreement between Belgrade and Pristina on that.

After a government session, he said at a press conference that the European Union (EU) is not happy that the Kosovo government has not accepted that everything related to the elections in Kosovo be concluded by exchanging letters between officials of the liaison offices of Serbia and Kosovo.

"I would not say that the Government of Kosovo has decided not to hold Serbian elections in Kosovo, but it is true that there is no prior agreement. European Union is not satisfied with the fact that I did not agree to conclude everything within the proposed correspondence between liaison officers. Correspondence should be between the Government of Kosovo and the Government of Serbia. As it is, the issue has moved in a different direction, we have expressed regret," said Kurti.

He said that he did not know how much the events surrounding the elections in Serbia would affect the dialogue. "However, when we are invited to a meeting, of course we will be ready to get involved," Kurti said.