REUTERS: The European Union will not lift political and economic sanctions on Kosovo unless the government de-escalates tensions with ethnic Serbs, EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak said on Tuesday during a visit in Pristina.
EU countries imposed punitive measures on ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo after Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government failed to heed EU and U.S. requests to defuse strife in the country’s north following the worst clashes in over a decade.
The measures include halting visits by Kosovo officials to the EU and a suspension of a large part of EU economic aid to the small Balkan republic, and Brussels has warned of further measures if Kurti does not act to ease the tensions.”My wish is not to have sanctions,” Lajcak told reporters in Pristina after a three-hour meeting with Kurti. “The purpose of this mission, of course, and the discussion that we are having, is to get to the stage when these measures will be stopped.”In a statement, Kurti said he told Lajcak that “the EU’s punitive measures against Kosovo are unfair and make the dialogue asymmetrical”.Violence in north Kosovo, where 50,000 Serbs live and form a local majority, erupted in late May after ethnic Albanian mayors took office following a local election boycotted by Serbs demanding implementation of a decade-old deal for more autonomy.
“My wish is not to have sanctions,” Lajcak told reporters in Pristina after a three-hour meeting with Kurti. “The purpose of this mission, of course, and the discussion that we are having, is to get to the stage when these measures will be stopped.”
In a statement, Kurti said he told Lajcak that “the EU’s punitive measures against Kosovo are unfair and make the dialogue asymmetrical”.
Violence in north Kosovo, where 50,000 Serbs live and form a local majority, erupted in late May after ethnic Albanian mayors took office following a local election boycotted by Serbs demanding implementation of a decade-old deal for more autonomy.
