Kurti presented his vision for the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities

After yesterday's high-level meeting in Brussels, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, presented his draft statute for the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, as reported by Klan Kosova.

Kurti stated in a tweet that the draft of the CSM Statute presented by the management team was unacceptable, as it contradicted the Constitution of Kosovo, and he shared his own ten-point draft.

In his draft for the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, Kurti explains that the implementation of Article 7 of the Basic Agreement, in relation to Article 10, must be in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, the accompanying decision of the Constitutional Court of December 23, 2015, the letter of guarantee from former High Representative Federica Mogherini to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, and the position of the United States Government.

"To meet this ambition, a draft statute should be able to inter alia meet the following cumulative criteria, respectively embrace these elements:

- It will originate in the authorizations of the Council of Europe conventions, namely the Framework Convention;

- It will offer the possibility to the members of the Serbian community in Kosova to promote and protect their interests through a self-management framework;

- It will engender a non-territorial project, wherein all Serbs in Kosova are functionally represented (relying on their right to vote and principles envisaged in Chapter III, articles 57, 58, and 59 of Kosova's Constitution) in accordance with the principle of equality before the law and non-discrimination, and, on the basis of which all Serbs in Kosova realize their right to free association in order to protect or advocate for political, national, cultural, social, economic and other rights and goals;

- It will provide for a direct channel of communication with the Government of the Republic of Kosova, amongst others, through participation in the Consultative Council of Communities;

- It will offer the possibility to be funded by the Government of The Republic of Kosova budget, international organizations, third-country institutions, and donations, including from Serbia, which should all be routed through Kosova's Ministry of Finance procedures and regulations;

- It will envisage the possibility to cooperate with all institutions, including municipalities, for purposes of supporting their work and mission for its members;

- It will fully recognize the constitutional characteristics of the Republic of Kosova such as respect for the independence, unity of the institutional system, and territorial integrity of the Republic, and contribute to its full realization in practice;

- It will make use of the present laws in offering the possibility to exercise certain non-for-profit services through establishing associations in the field of culture, art, science, and education as well as scholarly and other associations for the expression, fostering and development of Serbs identity;

- It will envisage the procedure for registration with Kosova's Government body responsible for general administration and procedures for compliance with Kosova's law in force;

- It will ensure and promote respect for political pluralism, freedom of speech, freedom of association and the right to freely protect the political and religious identity of the Serbs in Kosova," it is stated in Kurti's draft statute on the CSM.

Kurti added that "as a humble accompanying commitment drawing upon the Basic Agreement's inherent liberal spirit, which in its preamble underlines that 'the protection of national minorities is a basic condition for peace', this project should embody the shared determination of Kosova and Serbia to stay genuine and committed to ensuring that their kin non-majority communities live up to same standards of human rights protection common among democratic and cohesive societies that leave no one behind."