Kosovo, according to the U.S. ambassador to the Western Balkans, must grant greater autonomy to towns in the north of the nation with a Serb majority if it wants to come closer to joining NATO and the European Union.
After being elected in April with a turnout of only 3.5%, ethnic Albanian mayors were placed in municipal offices in Kosovo, angering Serbs who form a majority in northern districts and who had boycotted the event.
To reduce tensions and pave the way for future municipal elections in which Serbs may take part, envoy Gabriel Escobar recommended that Kosovo pull police and mayors from their posts in Serb-majority districts.
Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that if 20% of voters in Serb-majority towns sign a petition calling for new elections, Kosovo will hold such elections.
“If Kosovo wants to move towards Euro-Atlantic integration, it will have to establish (an association of Serb municipalities),” Escobar told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade.
So, it’s inevitable. The issue is whether this or a future government in Kosovo will bring about this change.
Escobar said that Serbia, which provides financial and political support to some 50,000 Serbs in northern Kosovo, would be responsible for ensuring that Serbs in the region participated in the upcoming election.
The mayors of four northern Kosovo towns dominated by Serbs have defied the administration in Pristina by declaring Belgrade to be the true capital of Kosovo.
In December of last year, the Serbs in northern Kosovo withdrew from government. A 2013 accord, backed by the European Union, called for the establishment of an Association of Serb Municipalities and gives them the freedom to do so.
Since the Serbs could conduct a referendum to leave Kosovo and join Serbia if given additional autonomy, Prime Minister Albin Kurti is hesitant to follow the pact.
This week, in response to the recent upheaval in Kosovo, reinforcements for the NATO peacekeeping mission began arriving.
Almost a decade after NATO bombardment removed Serbian troops and police from the area, Kosovo achieved internationally recognized independence from Serbia in 2008. Kosovo is still considered by Serbia to be a southern province.
