Peci: Kosovo scored own goal by rejecting USA-EU proposal for license plate implementation

Executive director of the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development Lulzim Peci said that, after Kosovo had refused to extend the license plate implementation period, both the USA and the EU would demand the formation of the CSM, noting that Kosovo thus scored an own goal.

As Peci posted on Facebook, in addition to extending the deadline for the new license plate implementation, the US and the EU demanded the implementation of the agreement on the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM).

"After Kosovo Government refused to extend the implementation period for the new license plate regime in northern Kosovo, the US and the EU have started demanding that the agreement on establishing the CSM be implemented", Peci said.

He added that the CSM could not be established without fully functional municipal institutions in the north.

"Both the Serb List (Serb minority political party in Kosovo) and Serbia know very well that the CSM cannot become a reality without proper and functional institutions. The Serb List's decision to leave the institutions shows that they do not aim for the Community, but rather for a special autonomy status or a de-facto secession of northern Kosovo," Peci remarked.

Explaining this in more detail, Peci said that the focus was now shifted from the French-German proposal for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations to the normalization of the situation in the north, which did not work for Kosovo.

He added that, either consciously or unconsciously, Kosovo thus scored an own goal.

"Now we have to try not only not to lose, but also to win because we are in the middle of a game. To win the game, we must be clear that politics is the art of the possible and not the art of justice because justice alone does not protect any country in international relations. In the case of small countries, such as Kosovo, they are protected through partnerships and alliances with key Western countries," Peci concluded.