Kosovo’s largest party, opposition’s Vetevendosje (LVV) has blasted the deal with Serbia signed by Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti at the White House on Friday.
In a statement on Friday, asked for clarifications as to why two separate pledges were signed, and whether this was just a way to open Serbia’s way to the White House. Vetevendosje argued that no deal between Kosovo and Serbia was signed.
They blasted the government of Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti for lying to the people that they would get Serbia’s recognition in Washington. On the contrary, they treated Kosovo’s issues with Serbia, which is unacceptable, Vetevendosje argued.
They accused Kosovo’s delegation of treason committed by agreeing to share with Serbia the country’s main water source, Lake Ujman, entirely owned by Kosovo. Recognition of Serbia’s rights over the lake makes the agreement unacceptable, according to LVV.
The prime minister has allowed Serbia to intervene in Kosovo’s energy sovereignty, security, production and market. This also harms Kosovo’s position vis-a-vis the European network of operators who made Kosovo’s energy transmission operator independent from Serbia.
The Mini-Schengen initiative has been criticized by many parties, including the governing coalition, and it doesn’t reflect Kosovo’s views. Kosovo has no reason to become a party to an agreement with a country that does not recognize it, such as Serbia. Serbia can easily dominate the area due to its military, demographic and economic advantages relative to other countries.
The agreement requires Kosovo to relinquish its sovereignty by suspending requests for recognition and membership in international relations. This does not help Kosovo’s economic development, on the contrary, it hinders it.
The mutual recognition between Kosovo and Israel is very good news, but there is no reason to link it to a bad deal that brings Serbia in Kosovo.
The agreement makes commitment to constructing rail and road corridors for Serbia to reach the Adriatic Sea through Kosovo into Albania. Despite this big concession, Serbia refused to recognize Kosovo. The construction of these internal corridors for Serbia in Kosovo create the ground for a dangerous project, such as the territorial division of the northern part of the country. Furthermore, the agreement makes commitments for roads leading to Durrës and Shengjin, but Albania has not been a party to the meeting nor to the agreement.
Several of the issues related to the economy were already agreed before in the EU-led dialogue and should have been implemented. However, due to lack of deadlines and punishment mechanisms, Serbia has refused to implement them. The latest deal also lacks the latter points.
The way in which the issue of missing persons is handled in the deal is shameful and offensive to all victims of war. At this point Kosovo and Serbia are treated as equals, completely ignoring the fact that Kosovo still has 1641 missing persons as a direct result of crimes committed by Serbia.
Apology for the crimes committed and compensation for the damage caused during the war in Kosovo is not mentioned anywhere.
It is outrageous that the agreement on the economy does not mention at all neither war damages nor reparations. The deep poverty in Kosovo is also a result of the massive destruction of private and public property in the country during the Milosevic regime, particularly during Serbia’s genocidal campaign waged in Kosovo in 1998-1999.
It is also unacceptable for Kosovo to be portrayed as an Islamic, Arab or Middle Eastern country. Kosovo is a European country, a secular democracy, and is not close to the Middle East neither geographically nor historically. Such coverage harms Kosovo, if allowed to continue.
