Milivojevic: Kurti's plan for the north is an attempt to avoid the sanctions of the Quint and shift the blame to Belgrade

Former ambassador Zoran Milivojevic said that the five-point plan presented by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for the north was not a response to the demands of the Quint, and even less to the demands of the Serbian side, and did not lead to the de-radicalization of the situation that had occurred when the Kosovo Police had invaded municipal buildings and by imposing illegal Albanian mayors.

Milivojevic told Kosovo Online that Kurti was buying time with this.

"It is not a plan at all, but an attempt to avoid possible sanctions by the Quint and to amortize the pressures he is facing, by taking some initiative, because de-escalation depends on him. And he did not undertake anything in that direction and did not respond to the demands of the Quint, especially the Americans. Because what he offers is far from what they are looking for. He strictly sticks to his lines and tries to fit the matter into his old story that there is crime in the north under the control of Belgrade and that he is building a position on that thesis. But, above all, to keep the police and to control the municipalities in the north," Milivojevic says.

He adds that in Kurti's "offer," there is not even a word about what is the essential issue - the withdrawal of the police and the mayors and the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities.

"And those are the key demands of the Serbian side. Therefore, what Kurti presented is no plan and is nowhere near what could unblock the situation. It is just an attempt to get rid of the pressure and take some initiative to go into the next period without political consequences, to keep control over the north with the police and mayors. He is trying to build a platform based on the thesis that there is organized crime under the control of Belgrade in the north, on which he would get the support of the West," Milivojevic points out.

Today, after the meeting with the Quint ambassadors, Kurti presented a five-point plan for de-escalation in the north, which, as he stated, had also sent to the High EU Representative, Josep Borrell.

He demands that "all those who used violence against the Kosovo police, NATO soldiers and journalists" be brought to justice, that "violent groups be withdrawn and criminal activities stopped", and that "the Kosovo Police and KFOR or EULEX conduct joint security assessments once every 15 days". The fourth point is the calling of extraordinary elections in coordination with all actors, and the fifth point is to schedule a high-level meeting between the two parties in Brussels as early as this week.