Germany terminated cooperation with Kosovo in several areas

Germany had decided to temporarily pause the cooperation with Kosovo in various sectors because the Government led by Albin Kurti was not taking steps to calm the situation in the north, the German Embassy in Pristina told Radio Free Europe.

As stated in the written response, Germany had made this decision in accordance with the policy of the European Union, which had previously introduced measures against Kosovo.

They note that Germany's measures will not apply to "projects with the civil society sector or to projects that are being implemented".

"Measures include postponing government consultations on development cooperation, pausing the planned bilateral climate partnership, and providing specific equipment to those who provide security," the German Embassy in Pristina said.

It is also emphasized that the projects that were now paused could be restarted as soon as the "urgent measures for de-escalation" began.

"Germany explicitly supports the efforts of the EU, the work of the Special EU Representative (Miroslav) Lajcak, as well as the dialogue led by the EU," it is specified at the end.

Previously, the EU took measures against Kosovo because the Government in Pristina ignored requests to de-escalate the situation. Some of the measures taken by the EU are the temporary suspension of the work of the bodies of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, invitations to high-level events are suspended, and bilateral visits will be suspended, except for those aimed at solving the crisis in the north of Kosovo.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called these measures "unjust".

The EU has three demands towards Kosovo, which are also supported by other Western countries, and they are an urgent de-escalation of the situation in the north, the holding of new elections, and a return to the dialogue on the normalization of relations.