Kosovo PM Rules Out North Kosovo Autonomy

No ethnic community in Kosovo can expect special treatment, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said, urging Serbs in the north of the country to recognize the Pristina government and its institutions.

Thaci told reporters in Pristina that he felt encouraged by the willingness of some northern Serb politicians to recognize the independence of Kosovo in return for their part of the country obtaining special status.

He was referring to the statement made by the mayor of the north Mitrovica municipality, Krstimir Pantic who said over the weekend that Serbs in the north would accept living in an independent Kosovo, if the north would be granted a special status.

Thaci, who on Tuesday met the European Union Special Representative for Kosovo, EUSR, said the government was ready to address all concerns of Serbs in the north, but no special territorial or ethnic arrangement was on the table.

“I welcome everyone's readiness to recognize Kosovo... but Kosovo is  a single, independent and sovereign country and there will be no special treatment or special autonomy for any ethnicity or any part of the territory of Kosovo,” Thaci said.

Ideas about partitioning Kosovo on ethnic lines in the north have long been a matter of discussion in daily politics. But publicly, all stakeholders in Pristina, Belgrade and in world capitals have rejected such scenarios.

The newly appointed EUSR, Samuel Zbogar, meanwhile, said the EU presence in the country would help Kosovo get closer to Europe and the 27-member bloc.

He announced a more intensive dialogue between the EU and Kosovo on a whole range of issues, from visa liberalization to trade, in order to address the shortcomings on Kosovo found in the last EU progress report.

“I hope that by the end of the year, when the European Commission prepares the next report, that it will be more positive and that we can sense progress,” the Slovenian diplomat said in Pristina.

On Tuesday Zbogar met the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, who also dismissed any plans for the north besides the provisions set out in the Ahtisaari Plan.