Lajcak: The CSM will not weaken Kosovo; there are 16 functional models

The representative of the European Union in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in an interview for the "Atlantic Council" that Kosovo should not see the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities as a weakening of its functionality. According to him, there were 16 functional models for the realization of minority rights and all of them were in accordance with European standards, Koha reports.

Lajcak said that Kosovo and Serbia should agree on what the CSM would be.

"We should not be afraid of something that is not on the agenda yet. Kosovo and Serbia are equal parties. Neither party can impose its will on the other party against its will," he said and added that the EU, as a mediator, was the guarantor that everything that was agreed had to be in accordance with European standards.

"We are talking with our partners about existing models that strengthen the functionality of states, not weaken them, so we don't think there is no reason for fear. Nobody has an interest in weakening the functionality of Kosovo. We should not look at it as a threat or a punishment or a compromise, but as an obligation on the one hand and as building mutual trust between the Serbs and the Government of Kosovo and clearly defining the relationship between the Government of Serbia and the Serbs from Kosovo according to European standards," Lajcak said.

He reminded that the Constitutional Court of Kosovo said that the CSM could be established, but that its findings had to be taken into account. According to Lajcak, these parameters should be defined during the dialogue.

Lajcak reiterated that the CSM was an obligation that was waited for 10 years for Kosovo to implement it.

He also said that it was now up to the parties in the dialogue to agree on how to implement the European proposal and confirmed that the implementation annex, as a document in itself, would be part of the agreement. He expressed optimism that there would be an agreement soon.

"It can be achieved," he said, adding that leaders knew how important reconciliation was.