Balkans | Kosovo announces an agreement with the European Union to reduce tensions in the north of the country

Kosovo’s government has revealed details of the agreement reached with the European Union on de-escalation, including a 25 percent reduction in the police presence in and around town halls in four predominantly Serb municipalities in the north of the country.

In a written statement issued by the Government of Kosovo, First Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Development and Dialogue Psnik Pislemi and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak met in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, on July 10 and it was announced that an agreement had been reached to de-escalate tensions. .

The statement stated that it was agreed to reduce the police presence in municipal buildings and their surroundings in the north by 25%.

The statement stated that the security situation will be assessed in order to consider the possibility of reducing the police presence in and around the municipality buildings.

The Kosovo government supports early elections in four municipalities in the north of the country after the summer season. Kosovo is committed to providing the necessary legal basis to ensure the holding of these elections. The European Union will invite the main negotiators to Brussels to finalize the plan for the normalization agreement (agreed between Kosovo and Serbia), after which it will start implementing all the provisions of the agreement.

It was also announced in the statement that the transactions on the agreed issues will be finalized within two weeks.

Meanwhile, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti said, in a statement at the cabinet meeting, that he expects the sanctions imposed by the European Union on the country to be lifted while reducing tensions in the north of the country.

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