The American ambassador in Pristina, Jeff Hovinier, said on Wednesday that the new elections in the four municipalities inhabited by Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo would aggravate the situation, while the way they will be held is an internal matter of Kosovo.
He made these comments in a conversation with a group of journalists in Pristina, during which he said that with the agreement reached in Bratislava, the Kosovo government has committed to prepare the legal framework for organizing new elections and the United States welcomes this step. important that leads to the depopulation of the situation.
“The issue of how the elections will be held in the north is an internal issue for Kosovo. Whether this is done through the resignation of the mayors, or if it is done through a process where voters sign a petition to remove the current mayors, there are different views on which would be more efficient. We are only interested in seeing the process moving forward,” he said.
The new elections in the north are part of steps to reduce tensions that erupted after the Albanian mayors who emerged from the April 23 elections boycotted by the Serbs were sent to the offices of the northern municipalities with the support of the police.
The Government of Kosovo has said that it expects the drafting of a document to be completed by the beginning of September, through which it is expected to determine the rules on how to organize the petition, which would enable the citizens of the municipalities to dismiss their mayors. In order for the petition to succeed, according to government officials, it must express the will of 20 percent of a municipality’s voters.
Ambassador Hovenier said that the organization of the elections is one of the things that has been identified by the European Union as a way to improve the situation, and the United States agrees with this assessment, which is concerned about the situation in the north of Kosovo, and for this reason, it has been requested by Kosovo and Serbia take measures to reduce tensions.
“We want to avoid unrest, threats of violence and other things that hinder our ability to work with the parties to focus on our strategic objectives, which is the full implementation of the Ohrid agreement by both sides,” he said. he underlining that dialogue is key for Kosovo’s progress towards Euro-Atlantic integration.
“Kosovo will not be able to become a member of the European Union, Kosovo will not be able to surpass the Partnership for Peace to become a member of NATO, two essential goals that the United States expects to happen, without doing progress in the dialogue facilitated by the European Union”, he said,
Ambassador Hovenier said that he does not see how the demands of the United States directed towards Kosovo to take action regarding the north
“As the ambassador of the United States in Kosovo, I am very comfortable with what we are asking the government of Kosovo to do, what we are asking the people of Kosovo to do. There should be no doubt, and I hope it is very clear, that the US has a strong long-term commitment to the people of Kosovo,” he said.
Ambassador Hovenier said that the disagreements with Albin Kurti’s government on some special issues are not a surprise to anyone, such as the way police units are used to send new presidents to the north of Kosovo, which led to tension in the situation.
“So I would say it’s a mixed situation. In some matters we enjoy very close cooperation with the Kurti government, and we are doing things together that are going very well. In some other points we have had differences. And as I said, I respect the right of the prime minister (Albin Kurti) to make his own decisions and determine what he believes is best for his country, he is the democratically elected prime minister, of a democratic state”, said Ambassador Hovenier.
He said that the United States gives him advice and suggestions in order to avoid tensions and problems that prevent the full implementation of the Ohrid agreement.
“Sometimes there are consequences for him (Albin Kurtin), when there is no level of coordination or cooperation, or when our advice from our perspective is not taken into account or acted upon,” said Ambassador Hovenier.
The European Union has already announced some punitive measures against Kosovo due to inaction in the north of Kosovo.
The Government of Kosovo is seeking the lifting of these measures following its decision to halve the presence of police units in and around municipal buildings in the north and the commitment to hold elections in the north.
