Maric: CSM Statute is not a literary competition, but the key to the Serbs' future

Ljubomir Maric, a member of the Serbian Parliament from Kosovo, commented on the call made by Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani for the United States to be involved in drafting the statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities. He emphasized that the Washington involvement could yield results in the formation of the CSM only if it strictly adhered to the agreements reached in Brussels in 2013 and 2015.

Maric, a former coordinator of the Management Team for drafting the CSM statute, stated for Kosovo Online that the "implementation plan specifies that the Management Team for the implementation of the Brussels Agreement will be responsible for drafting the statute," and he added that this document had already been presented in Brussels.

"So, there is no need for anyone to write literary works because we are not in a competition for the best student essay here. This is about the serious future of the Serbs, and it's about ensuring that what was signed, with the EU as a third signatory and guarantor of all agreements, is implemented precisely as agreed. Nobody should or can be a student writing a literary essay," Maric said.

He pointed out that representatives of Pristina, who always mentioned Kosovo's Constitution, had signed an international agreement, which, from their perspective, was binding, with the mediation and guarantee of the EU.

"The first point of the implementation plan concerns harmonization, or the preparation of a legal framework, which is their task. When they complete that, the act will certainly have its foundation in the legislation of the provisional self-governing institutions in Pristina," Maric emphasized.

Maric also emphasizes that the involvement of the international factor in implementing the agreements agreed upon and signed in Brussels is welcome.

"For us, the assistance of anyone who is relevant, strong, and influential towards the authorities of the provisional institutions in Pristina to implement the agreement is certainly significant. The European Union has so far failed to do so, even though it is the guarantor of the agreements reached. Involving the United States in this direction, to implement exclusively what has been signed and as it was signed in Brussels, will always be welcomed," Maric said.

He reminded that representatives of Serbs from Kosovo, the Government of Serbia, and President Aleksandar Vucic as the chief negotiator had called for more active involvement of the international factor in fulfilling obligations and forming the CSM to ensure that what had been agreed upon in Brussels was implemented as agreed.

"So, the first Brussels Agreement, the Agreement on the Normalization of Relations between Belgrade and Pristina, was signed in 2013, and almost the entire agreement is about forming the CSM. The implementation plan or what someone today calls a roadmap, envisages that point one is harmonization of legal frameworks. What Pristina certainly needs to do first, and we hope that the US will support and assist in this regard to form the CSM, is harmonize the legal framework, i.e., create the conditions for implementing the second part of the agreement, which are the principles for establishing the CSM that detail all the responsibilities and how the CSM will function," Maric explained.