Kurti: There will be no Republika Srpska in northern Kosovo

(Patria) - Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in an interview with Hina, ahead of a new round of dialogue on normalizing relations with Serbia, stated that he will not allow the creation of some form of Republika Srpska in northern Kosovo.

At the meeting between Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Brussels on May 2nd, a draft on the status of municipalities in northern Kosovo, where Serbs form the majority, will be presented, which is a key point of negotiation. Kurti has not yet seen this draft.

The Serbian side prioritizes the formation of a community of municipalities with a Serb majority in northern Kosovo, as stipulated by the Brussels Agreement on the normalization of relations from 2013.

Kosovo, on the other hand, strives to ensure that this community does not have executive powers, emphasizing that it does not want something like Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina on its territory.

- Given Brussels' insistence, I will gladly look at what draft they have prepared, although I believe it would have been better if they had presented it to me in Pristina first.

However, I will ensure that what was agreed upon on February 27th in Brussels is fulfilled, namely the existence of an appropriate level of self-governance for the Serb community in accordance with the highest European international standards for minority protection.

But what we will not allow is the right to territorialization and the creation of anything that would resemble Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We will not allow a satellite para-state with a destructive essence that would undermine Kosovo's statehood - Kurti stated.