Von Cramon: Pristina has not fulfilled all conditions for the normalization of relations with Belgrade

The Kosovo Government lacks the political will for progress in the country's European integration, Viola von Cramon, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Kosovo assessed. She emphasized that for progress in this process, normalization of relations with Serbia and successful completion of the dialogue were necessary, but Pristina had not fulfilled all conditions and criteria, Bulgarian news agency BTA reports.

"The Kosovo Government lacks the political will for progress in the country's European integration. The cabinet has applied for membership in the Council of Europe and the EU, but the necessary steps for progress on these applications have not been taken. They say they want to become members of NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, but if someone knows the rules of the club, they must play by those rules instead of breaking them," Viola von Cramon, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Kosovo, emphasized to BTA.

She highlighted that the Kosovo Government was currently not making life any easier for its citizens, which, she says, sends very mixed signals. International partners are tired of Pristina's inaction, which led to the imposition of sanctions by the EU last year, she pointed out.

She noted that Kosovo "must be recognized as an independent state to join the EU," adding that five EU member states did not recognize its independence.

"Everyone agrees that a successful conclusion of the dialogue is necessary for the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina. It would be much easier for everyone if Kosovo could say that it has fulfilled all conditions and criteria, then the EU and international partners would exert tremendous pressure on Serbia to fulfill its part of the deal. However, Kosovo is not doing that, which makes it extremely easy for Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to say that there is no point in investing political capital if there is no interest in Kosovo's progress," Von Cramon said.

She also commented on the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo that cash transactions must be in euros from February 1 and pointed out the controversial way Pristina attempted to implement that decision.

"Kosovo, as a sovereign state, has the right to decide which currency to use, but the way they tried to implement that decision is problematic. They did not inform people who would be affected by the decision, did not disseminate information in the Serbian language about the decision, and consultations were not held. All of this was against the interests of ordinary people," Von Cramon stated.

She emphasized that everyone in the EU and Washington was wondering why Pristina was doing this, adding that they were targeting ordinary people from the Serbian minority.

"When Kosovo declared independence, it was clear that it was a multi-ethnic country and society and that mechanisms were needed to protect this multi-ethnic society. However, the ruling party and its supporters now don't care about that," Von Cramon pointed out.

She believes that Kosovo can progress towards the EU, but only with a government that works in the interest of the people in Kosovo to achieve that goal.

"The current reality is different and quite disappointing," she assessed, noting that none of the EU mechanisms for resolving crises in Kosovo had been effective enough so far, but imposing restrictive measures that directly affected citizens would be unfair.