Serbs urge Pristina to establish association of Serb-majority municipalities

PRISTINA, Kosovo, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Political representatives of 10 Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo sent an ultimatum to Pristina authorities on Wednesday to urgently start the work for establishing an association of Serb-majority municipalities.

Serb political representatives made the call during a meeting of local assemblies in Kosovo. They warned that if Kosovo authorities do not start the work immediately, they would establish the association on their own.

The establishment of the association is envisaged with an agreement reached between Pristina and Belgrade in 2013 during the EU-facilitated dialogue in Brussels. Almost five years later, the effective work for establishing it has not started yet.

Ivan Teodosijevic, minister of local government administration in the Kosovo government, blamed Pristina and the European Union for the delay.

Serbs consider the association as a crucial mechanism for their future in Kosovo, but Pristina insists its establishment should be followed by the implementation of other agreements reached in the Brussels dialogue. One of those pending agreements is the opening of the bridge in Mitrovica which is blocked by Serbs.

Goran Rakic, the leader of Srpska List, the main Serbs political party in Kosovo, said that they've informed Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that if Pristina does not establish it, then on April 20, they will establish it and in that way implement the Brussels agreement.

In addition, Serb political representatives set also two other requests towards Kosovo and international institutions.

They want the minister of interior affairs of Kosovo and the director of Kosovo police to be dismissed for the police operation in Mitrovica North.

On Monday, the director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian government Marko Djuric was detained and then deported to Serbia.

They also asked the international military and police missions in Kosovo, KFOR and EULEX respectively, to ensure the safety of Serbs in Kosovo.

In the meantime, the Kosovo government said no initiative will be implemented and respected if not in line with the Kosovo laws. "The association is an obligation for Kosovo stipulated in the Brussels process and which will be implemented in a near future," the government said in a statement.

Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia, unilaterally declared independence in 2008, which Serbia refuses to recognize. Enditem