Stano: Referring to the draft statute of the CSM as a "non-paper" is disrespectful to the EU Council

Kosovo cannot escape its obligations from the Brussels Dialogue, and labeling the European draft statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities as a "non-paper" by its officials shows a lack of respect for its dialogue commitments, EU Spokesperson Peter Stano said, as reported by Dukagjini.

"Calling the draft statute a 'non-paper' disregards the European Union Council’s call to act on it without further delays towards establishing the CSM," Stano said.

In October 2023, the EU delivered the draft statute for the establishment of the CSM to Kosovo and Serbia, and it was supported by the United States, Germany, France, and Italy.

Since then, the US and the EU have repeatedly urged Kosovo to submit this draft statute to the Constitutional Court.

Officials from Prime Minister Albin Kurti's government have previously referred to the European draft statute as a "non-paper."

A few days after Kurti said that, as prime minister, he could not establish the CSM, his spokesperson Perparim Kryeziu stated on November 1st to local media that the European draft statute was a "non-paper" and that the prime minister had not accepted it.

In the language of European institutions, a "non-paper" is an informal document revealed during closed negotiations within EU institutions in an attempt to reach consensus on contentious issues.

Stano emphasized that both Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had accepted the draft in principle last year when it was presented by the EU Special Envoy for Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, to European leaders Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"In the conclusions of December 2023, the European Council welcomed the willingness of Serbia and Kosovo to accept the draft statute proposed to the parties by the EU envoy. This represents the formal acceptance of the document by all 27 EU member states," Stano stressed.

He added that the bloc regrets that, "despite the acceptance of the document," no progress has been made towards establishing the Community of Serb Municipalities in line with the European draft statute.

"In line with the official commitment to dialogue and the full implementation of all agreements, we ask Kosovo to proceed with the establishment without further delays," he added.