Obligation to establish CSM rests on Priština

The representatives of the Serbian Government and of the Kosovo Serbs agreed today that the Community of Serbian Municipalities (CSM) will undoubtedly be established, and that the obligation to establish the CSM now rests on Priština.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Đurić, said in Leposavić that the CSM is the idea and the objective of the Serbian policy which garnered the support of the international community and resulted in an agreement under which Priština is obligated to facilitate its formation.

"The obstruction and the attempts to prevent the CSM formation have lasted for six months now. However, given the balance of power in the world and the powerful impact of the international community here in Kosovo and Metohija, there is no doubt that it would happen, it's just a matter of time", Đurić said.

Đurić added that official Belgrade is not sitting with hands crossed and waiting for political charity, but rather that it expects from Brussels and the entire international community to exert pressure on Priština to implement the agreed arrangements.

In the meantime, it is business as usual and we are making political and other preparations for the establishment of CSM, Đurić said.

At the most recent round, it was agreed that the Management Team for the Establishment of CSM is to start working on the draft Statute and it can be expected to formally commence in the next few days, he said.

One of two Serbian ministers in the Government of Kosovo, Ljubomir Marić, told reporters that the Management Team for the Establishment of CSM submitted one version of the CSM Statute in May 2015, and that the international community decided it was finally time to regulate the framework which is still not in place, in order to ensure that the Statute be compiled as well as possible, and in line with the agreed.

"The Government of Serbia signed the agreement on the framework for the establishment of CSM on August 25 2015. The draft Statute is changing rapidly in accordance with the adopted principles, however, the obligation on establishing CSM currently rests on Priština", Marić said.

As far as the Management Team and the Government of the Republic of Serbia are concerned, Serbian representatives in PISG institutions have fulfilled our obligations, and our role now is to insist that Priština upheld its part of obligations, Marić stated.

Marić added that there should be no doubts that several versions of the CSM Statute have been compiled, and ready to be put on discussion whenever, in order to confirm that the text is in line with 15 principles that were agreed in Brussels.