Today marks 13 years since the signing of the First Agreement on Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations between Belgrade and Pristina, better known to the public as the Brussels Agreement. This document was signed in 2013 under the auspices of the European Union.
The agreement consists of 15 points, the first six of which provide for the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO). The ZSO is envisioned as a key mechanism for the protection of the rights and interests of the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija, with precisely defined competencies in the fields of economy, education, health, and urban planning.
At all meetings in Brussels and with international officials, representatives of Belgrade have emphasized that the urgent formation of the ZSO is necessary, and that all issues need to be resolved through dialogue. In contrast, Pristina continues with unilateral and unlawful moves, and the position of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija is becoming increasingly difficult.
The Brussels Agreement was signed in 2013 by the then Prime Minister of Serbia, Ivica Dačić, and the then Prime Minister of the provisional institutions in Pristina, Hashim Thaci, and on behalf of the European Union by the then High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.
The Assembly of the provisional institutions in Pristina ratified the Brussels Agreement in June 2013, so the establishment of the ZSO became an obligation for Pristina.
The ZSO should include 10 municipalities with a majority Serb population south and north of the Ibar, namely Leposavić, Zvečan, the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Parteš, Ranilug, Novo Brdo, Gračanica, Štrpce, and Klokot. It is envisioned that membership would be open to any other municipality provided that the members agree.
According to the Brussels Agreement, it is envisioned that the ZSO has a statute, a president, a vice president, an assembly, and that member municipalities have the right to cooperate in the collective exercise of their powers through the Community. The ZSO would have full authority in the areas of economic development, education, health,
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, stated on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the signing of the Brussels Agreement that April 19, 2013, was not an easy day, but a day full of compromises in almost impossible conditions, but that the document was the least bad thing that could be obtained at that moment.
“Both 13 years ago and today, as the President of the Republic and then as the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia, I was looking toward the future, wanting good relations with the Albanians, believing that their only goal was not just to expel Serbs, but that they wanted some kind of peace and stability. I was wrong. Neither did they want it, and even less so did those who forced us into all of this want it,” Vučić told Kosovo Online.
He is convinced that Pristina will not establish the ZSO and adds that he expects some “semi-friends” to now invite him to joint meetings with a proposal that it should not be the ZSO, but something similar, and again within the system of government in Pristina.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Đurić also stated that what was promised to Serbs by the Brussels Agreement as a guarantee of respect for their rights in KiM – the ZSO – has not only not been fulfilled, but there is no intention to honor it.
Đurić stated that he believes that without the implementation of the agreement on the ZSO, there cannot be what is key for progress in relations, which is the building of trust, Tanjug reports.
MORE TOPICS:
NEWS THE LAKERS ARE WAITING FOR: It is known when Luka Dončić returns to the court!
Source: Politika, Photo: Kosovo online