Serbia, US and EU condemn closure of Serbian-run post offices in North Kosovo

Serbia, the US and the EU all condemned the closure by Kosovo’s police of Serbian-run post offices in the north of Kosovo.

Why is this relevant

The post offices’ closure is part of the Kosovo authorities’ continued efforts to establish control over the Serb-majority north.

Context

On Monday, Kosovo police raided nine Serbian Post branches in four Serb-dominated municipalities in northern Kosovo after the country’s Regulatory Authority of Electronic and Postal Communications, ARKEP, informed them that “illegal post offices” were operating there.

The US is “deeply disappointed” by the action, according to the US embassy in Pristina. “Kosovo’s uncoordinated actions put Kosovan citizens and KFOR soldiers at greater risk, unnecessarily escalate regional tensions, and undermine Kosovo’s reputation as a reliable international partner,” it stated.

A statement by the EU Spokesperson considered the closure ‘a unilateral and uncoordinated step, which violates agreements reached under the EU-facilitated Dialogue’.

The EU emphasised that, as part of the Arrangements regarding Telecommunications reached in 2013 and the Action Plan agreed in 2015, both Parties agreed to discuss postal services “at a later stage”, thereby acknowledging that the issue can only be addressed within the framework of the Dialogue.

According to the EU statement, ‘unilateral and uncoordinated actions cannot offer solutions to this or any other issue that belongs to the normalisation process between Kosovo and Serbia’.

The EU called on the Kosovo government to reconsider its decision and to find a negotiated solution to this issue in the framework of the EU-facilitated Dialogue.

The representatives of France and Germany expressed support for the EU statement. The German Ambassador Jörn Rohde stressed that this move by Kosovo’s government ‘risks Kosovo’s EU membership application remaining stuck in the inbox’.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has insisted that “a clear reaction by the international community is needed to secure the safety of the Serbs and protect their rights”. “I reiterated that Pristina’s unilateral moves are leading to an unnecessary and dangerous escalation of tensions that could destroy the peace in the region,“ Vucic said.