Odalovic: There would have been no Brussels Agreement without the CSM; Albanians lack the will to implement it

The President of the Commission for Missing Persons of the Government of Serbia, Veljko Odalovic, stated today that the Brussels Agreement would not have existed without the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (CSM), adding that the agreement was focused on people—both Serbs and Albanians—and that Albanian citizens in the province also derived certain benefits from it, RTV reports.

Speaking to Tanjug, Odalovic said that no Albanian political leader in Pristina—from the signatory and former prime minister Hashim Thaçi to the current prime minister Albin Kurti—has demonstrated genuine willingness to implement the agreement in the form in which it was agreed.

He added that for 13 years there has been continuous avoidance of implementation, despite the fact that Pristina ratified the agreement immediately after its signing.

“We have 13 years of avoidance, and my issue is not with Pristina alone. Brussels Agreement was not respected by Thaçi, who signed it. It was not respected by Ramush Haradinaj, nor by Avdullah Hoti, nor by Isa Mustafa, and it will not be respected by Kurti either. It will not be implemented in the format and form in which it was agreed,” Odalovic stressed.

He pointed out that, even after 13 years, key provisions of the Brussels Agreement are being directly violated, citing as an example the absence of a Serbian regional police commander in the north—despite the obligation that the candidate be proposed by the mayors of the four Serb-majority municipalities.

At the same time, he highlighted problems within the judicial system in Kosovo, which, he claims, deprive Serbs of the right to a fair trial and adequate protection during investigative procedures.

He further argued that Pristina, with the tacit consent of the European Union, is attempting to undermine the concept of the CSM through institutional pressure and unilateral actions.

“We still do not have another essential element—a plan for implementation. There are several issues that Pristina and the European Union, as the guarantor of everything, are simply ignoring or avoiding even discussing. They are playing the card of a fait accompli, allowing Kurti to act in an institutionally disruptive manner, to dismantle institutions and render the future Community of Serb-majority Municipalities meaningless, even though all of this is very clearly defined,” Odalovic said.

Referring to the current situation, he stated that during his mandate Kurti has expropriated land from Serbs to build military facilities, and that recent actions have targeted the healthcare and education sectors.

“These are areas of urban development and environmental protection, where the implementation plan clearly establishes a link between the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities and the Republic of Serbia. Financing—everything is identified through that framework. If this were functioning, that is, the CSM, we would have a collective body representing Kosovo Serbs in all these areas,” Odalovic concluded.