Stano: Closure of Post offices and opening of the Ibar Bridge could lead to new sanctions on Kosovo

EU Spokesperson Peter Stano stated today that the continuation of unilateral actions, such as the closure of Serbian Post offices and the opening of the main bridge on the Ibar River, could lead to new sanctions on Kosovo, adding that this message had been conveyed to the authorities in Pristina not only by EU officials but also by other international partners.

"Not just the EU, but all international partners in Kosovo are telling the administration in Pristina not to engage in these serious, counterproductive, negative, unilateral, uncoordinated steps. We hope they will finally hear this message and stop us from having to consider what kind of measures we would implement as a response if the situation does not change," Stano said at a press conference.

Commenting on the closure of the Serbian Post office branch in northern Kosovo and the opening of the main bridge on the Ibar, Stano stated that the EU had been more than clear over the past two days in not approving such unilateral actions by Pristina.

He explained that the measures against Kosovo are still in place and that they are progressive, meaning they can be increased or decreased depending on how Pristina behaves.

"We said when we introduced them that they are progressive, that they can be scaled up or scaled down, depending on the situation. This is also the answer to the question of what the EU will do. We have measures, and they can be scaled up if all actors agree that they should be increased," Stano said.

When asked if he expects that the measures against Pristina might soon be lifted, he replied that no such decision had been made yet.

"The measures against Pristina are still in effect because EU member states have not yet decided to act based on the report from the high representative, submitted to them a few weeks ago. This is not surprising because, if you remember, the measures were imposed last July against the Pristina administration due to the fact that they had taken too many actions leading to escalation rather than taking steps toward de-escalation. Instead of de-escalating, they engaged in more and more unilateral actions that led to escalation. So, the measures are still in place," Stano emphasized.