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| David McAllister |
European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman David McAllister called on Saturday to Kosovo Government to re-evaluate its decision on tariffs on Serbian goods in order to open the way for the continuation of the talks.
He made these comments at a press conference in Pristina at the conclusion of a two-day visit to Kosovo of a European Parliament delegation.McAllister said the European Parliament wants talks between Kosovo and Serbia to continue as this year is a chance to reach a normalization agreement.
"The friends and partners of Kosovo, the European Union and its states, the European Parliament, the United States and others, all are asking the Kosovo Government to reassess the tariff decision. Why? Because of other reasons, this is a violation of the CEFTA agreement and is also a violation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement so we do not believe this is the right decision. The question now is whether these tariffs could be suspended? Their suspension would be, in our view, a step to make progress. We have been very clear on this and we have repeated this message over the last two days in Pristina," he said.
Mr. McAllister said that the goal is for Serbia and Kosovo to sit back at the negotiating table in Brussels, while reiterating the European Parliament's stance on ideas for changing the borders.
"The European Parliament is committed to multi-ethnic society in Kosovo and Serbia and that homogenous ethnic states should not be aimed at the region. The European Parliament supports the facilitated dialogue by the European Union as a framework for reaching a normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. The European Parliament considers that any agreement should be acceptable to both parties and taking into account the overall sustainability of the region's international laws," he said.