Delegation of EU- Stabilization Association Parliamentary Committee

MINUTES

of the 5th meeting of EU-KOSOVO STABILIZATION ASSOCIATION PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE , September 17-18, 2018

The meeting began on 17th of September, at 16:00, with introductory remarks by Mr. Memli Krasniqi, Chairman of the delegation of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, who welcomed all the participants and gave the floor for a speech to Mr. , the Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Veseli, thanked all the participants and on behalf of the people of Kosovo thanked the delegation of the European Parliament for voting in favour for visa liberalisation and simultaneously emphasized that Kosovo was fully committed in its vision of becoming part of European Union, focusing on meeting the standards and necessary reforms required by European Integration Agenda.

1. Adoption of draft agenda The agenda is adopted without amendments, as in the draft document. 2. Approval of the draft minutes of the 4th meeting of the EU-Kosovo CSP The draft minutes have been approved without amendments, as in the draft document. 3. State of play of EU-Kosovo relations: exchange of views with H.E. Ramush HARADINAJ, Prime Minister, on behalf of the and Ms Nataliya APOSTOLOVA, Head of the EU Office / EU Special Representative in Kosovo, on behalf of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and on behalf of the European Commission

Ms. Nataliya Apostolova spoke on behalf of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and on behalf of the European Commission and started her speech congratulating the European Parliament for voting in favour of freedom of movement. Ms. Apostolova called for continuation of reforms in all spheres, maintaining party consensus on the country's priorities and continuing the adoption of a legal package including the ratification of the IPA funds agreement.

Furthermore, Mrs. Apostolova stressed the importance of rule of law, the fight against organized crime and corruption, public administration reforms, and raised the concerns of IMF regarding multiplying the costs of the war veterans scheme. In addition, Mrs. Apostolova stressed that with SAA, Kosovo has committed itself to a continued engagement towards a visible and sustainable improvement in its relations with Serbia. This process shall ensure that both countries can continue on their EU paths, avoiding that either can block the other in these efforts, or should lead to the comprehensive normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, in the form of a legally binding agreement. The Prime Minister of Kosovo, H.E. Ramush Haradinaj, thanked the European Parliament delegation for the vote in favour of visa liberalization and focused on the priority that the Government of the Republic of Kosovo had in the process of European integration. Moreover, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, H.E Haradinaj emphasized that the Agenda for European Reform was part of the Government Program by pointing out that the rule of law, the fight against organized crime and corruption, good neighbourhood were priorities of the Institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. In this debate participated also Co-Chair Mr. Tonino Picula (MEP), who welcomed the ratification of the border agreement with Montenegro and progress made in establishing a track record in fighting organised crime and corruption, as the two last outstanding criteria for visa liberalisation. He reminded participants of the EP vote of 13/09/2018 in favour of visa liberalisation and expressed hope that Member States would follow suit. He also drew attention to the importance of avoiding any backsliding on rule of law, further progress in fighting corruption and party-political consensus on EU-related reforms.

4. The dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia

Mr. Picula spoke about the chronology of the events related to the dialogue, the arrest of Marko Đurić, the withdrawal of the Government's platform for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia from parliamentary procedures, because of the inability of political parties to agree that the Kosovo team be led by the President.

Mr. Picula continued to speak about the dialogue by emphasizing that the European Parliament was interested in having a long-term, sustainable and realistic solution, a solution based on mutual consent and in accordance with international law which did not undermine stability and security in the region. In his presentation, Mr. Picula also cited the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities as an example of a missed opportunity and at the end, he said that Kosovo's leaders in the Government and the opposition should be united about key national priorities for achieving solutions that would empower Kosovo domestically within the international community.

The Chairman Mr. Memli Krasniqi highlighted that this topic belonged to all political actors in the country, without exception, continuing that the consensus of the political spectrum in Kosovo for dialogue with Serbia was more than desirable, adding that it was the responsibility of all political parties. Mr. Krasniqi stressed that a significant number of agreements had already been signed, but most of them were not fully implemented and some were not implemented at all, but apart from that, he said that the dialogue had also made steps forward in consolidating state sovereignty of Kosovo, but also in the process of our integration into the European community.

The chair of this meeting continued by outlining the topics that unite Kosovo's political spectrum, such as closing a chapter of disagreements, concrete goals of ending the dialogue, such as mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia, Kosovo's membership in the United Nations and speeding up of our country's integration processes into NATO and the European Union. Mr. Krasniqi reiterated the stance of his party, PDK, by reaffirming that any agreement that could be reached with Serbia could not be valid without ratification by 2/3 of the MPs of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. Finally, for this point, Mr. Krasniqi also addressed the offensive language of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during his visit to Kosovo, who had praised Slobodan Milosevic's figure, known as the butcher of Balkan. Mr. Krasniqi required, such a language shall be not be tolerated and shall be condemned.

Mrs. Dubravka Šuica addressed the issues of the establishment of the Association of Serbian Municipalities and that of a possible territorial exchange, stressing that no one could agree to the latter, referring also to Commissioner Hahn who had stressed that it was a risky business. She also referred to the provocative language used by the President of Serbia during his visit to Mitrovica, stressing that it did not contribute to the normalization of relations between the two countries and called for compromise between political parties for dialogue, otherwise it would be difficult to get out of the current situation.

Mr. Glauk Konjufca referred to the three fundamental goals of the dialogue, first, the integration of Serbs into Kosovo's institutions and the integration of the northern part of Kosovo into the Republic of Kosovo. The second was the dismantling of state structures, which Serbia finances and maintains in several parts of Kosovo, but mainly in the northern part of the country and the third reason was to speed up the integration process in the European Union.

Mr. Konjufca spoke about the current situation with regard to the Association of Municipalities with Serb majority.

Mrs. emphasized that the position of her party, LDK, which is in favour of political dialogue, is the only way to solve problems with everyone, including Serbia as a neighbouring country, and reiterated that the continuing support of the European Union and the United States of America in this process was essential. So, whenever there was no trans-Atlantic cooperation, the Western Balkans regionunfortunately suffered from terrible conflicts and wars.

According to Mrs. Osmani-Sadriu, seven years after the official start of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, the dialogue continued to focus primarily on relations between the two politicians rather than the relations between the peoples, not the relations between the states. Also, Mrs. Osmani stressed that if the voice of the opposition, which represents over 60% of Albanian voters in this process, was not heard, there would be no implementation of the agreements and reminded of the letter that the opposition adressed to Mrs. Mogherini emphasizing their stance on this process. In addition, Mrs. Osmani-Sadriu stressed that the independence of the Republic of Kosovo had already been confirmed not only with the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo and the , but also recognized by 116 free nations and further confirmed by the advisory opinion of the Court of the International Justice, which had sealed the Declaration of Independence within the existing borders. Moreover, Mrs.Osmani added that compromise was needed, except with regard to the territorial integrity and internal functionality of the Republic of Kosovo.

The following members participated in the debate: Thomas Waitz (MEP), Mr. Billal Sherifi (Kosovo MP) and Mr. Visar Ymeri (Kosovo MP).

5. War Crimes and the way towards reconciliation

MEP Ms. Julie Ward stressed that recently she had seen a nationalist sensation in the Western Balkans. Re-reconciliation and peace-building in itself, constitute an integral part of the stabilization and development of Kosovo, on its path to EU accession. She continued by pointing out that Kosovo should support the functioning of specialized chambers and the Specialized Prosecutor's Office as a key element of reconciliation and relations between Kosovo and the EU. Mrs. Ward also cited the victims of sexual violence and the establishment of a fund in support thereof. In conclusion, Mrs. Ward called for encouraging Kosovo’s and Serbia’s youth to participate in the ERASMUS Program.

Mr. Billall Sherifi highlighted Serbia’s genocidal goals against emphasizing that by international law ethnic cleansing is defined as a form of genocide and a serious violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Furthermore, Mr. Sherifi emphasized that the Resolution 47/121 of the General Assembly of United Nations and the Resolution of the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna on 14-25 June 1993 upon the request of that Assembly, condemn ethnic cleansing as a form of genocide. Mr. Sherifi stressed that international intervention against Serbia interrupted its genocide in Kosovo. Speaking about Mr Vucic’svisit to Kosovo, Mr. Sherifi said: “instead of Vucic accepting crimes committed by his state during the war in Kosovo and to start cooperating with the international community to shed the light for the entire chain of people responsible for crimes and apologize for these crimes, he justified Slobodan Milosevic".

Mrs. Albulena Haxhiu, in her speech, spoke mainly about Serbia's crimes during the period of 1998-1999, which she considered “the years of war crimes”. She said that ”Serbia's crimes in Kosovo have not been individual crimes. So, those crimes have had a state character. Therefore, the main purpose was the realization of a state plan to exterminate an entire population. As a result, over 14,000 civilians were killed. We are now in the year 2018 and there are still over 1600 missing persons.” Mrs. Haxhiu also refered to statistics, treated cases by the EULEX mission for these crimes, where seven indictments were filed with ten accused, six were released and three were convicted. Mrs. Haxhiu said "Instead of the Special Court that unfortunately was voted in the Kosovo Assembly, we needed to have a special court here in Kosovo that would investigate everything that happened during the Kosovo war. The state of Kosovo should be at the forefront of the genocide lawsuit against Serbia. It is urgent to approve the law on trial in the absence of Serbian criminals” In this debate Mr. Armend Zemaj participated as well. (MP of Kosovo Assembly)

6. Developments in economy, including functioning of the SAA

Mr. Thomas Waitz talked about the issue of energy, for the power plant. Mr. Waitz said that in all countries they were trying to reduce the use of coal because of pollution, and getting into debt for building such a power plantwas a bad calculation. Mr Waitz also talked about renewable energy opportunities and expertise from the European Commission. He said that it was important to think about the strategy of how to be independent regarding the electrical energy supply.

Mrs. Blerta Deliu referred to economic development statistics, according to which the economy was expected to grow from 3.7% in 2017 to about 4.6% in 2018. Furthermore, Ms. Deliu pointed out that the unemployment rate in the first quarter of the year 2018 had dropped to 26.5%, while as far as trade exchange was concerned, the European Union remained one of Kosovo’s main trading partners. She also mentioned the financial sector saying that it was a stable and growing sector and she spoke about the package of public administration reform laws.

Mr. Visar Ymeri stressed that the economy of Kosovo had four major problems; the first was access to the markets, highlighting the obstacles Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had created to prevent goods produced in Kosovo from being sold to their markets. The second barrier was access to capital, and the third one was access to energy. With regard to this third problem, Mr. Ymeri spoke mainly of the contract signed between the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and the American investor "Contour Global", which foresaw the construction of a 450 megawatt power plant. Mr. Ymeri said that this contract would cost, according to projections, about to 1.3 billion euros and it was an absolutely disadvantageous contract for the Republic of Kosovo and mostly in the economic and financial aspect because it would increase the electricity. As a last problem, Mr. Ymeri mentioned the unqualified labour force.

Mrs. Julie Ward (MEP) also participated in this debate.

7. Rule of law with special emphasis the fight against corruption and organized crime

Mr. Lukas Mandl, made a comparison between the rule of law of the state of Kosovo as a country that had celebrated its 10th anniversary and the Republic of Austria at the beginning of its foundation. According to Mr. Mandl, Kosovo has managed to progress a lot taking into account the difficult circumstances in this region. Mr. Mandl said that Kosovo citizens trust their country and this trust should be firmly and closely linked to the rule of law. Mr. Mandl also highlighted the importance of foreign investment and shared two experiences; one was with Austrian investors who declared their satisfaction with software engineers and with architecture engineers in the digitalisation field and other well-educated young people in these areas. The other experience was that of encountering problems with the rule of law, an area which different companies complain about. According to Mr. Mandl, if these companies leave, there would be job losses.

Mrs. Time Kadrijaj stressed that these 10 years of citizenship had made it clear that Kosovo society was a modern, emancipated society, ready to move towards European agenda. Mrs. Kadrijaj’s main focus was on the current Government agenda, in the area of rule of law, and the measures taken in preventing and fighting against corruption and organized crime, where she mentioned the importance of building the integrity of the institutions, and strengthening the judiciary and the legal infrastructure.

Mrs. Albulena Haxhiu emphasized that the rule of law, with focus on the fight against corruption and organized crime , was one of the obstacles of the Republic of Kosovo. According to Ms. Haxhiu, the problem was not the lack of laws but their implementation, the lack of which had led to the violation of the constitutional principles of Chapter II of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and also prevented economic development and welfare in the Republic of Kosovo. Mrs. Haxhiu emphasized that the role of the Assembly was vital in monitoring the implementation of legislation and in the rule of law. She mentioned the package in the framework of the legislative reform and stressed the importance of the Draft Law on Expansion of Competencies for the Confiscation of Property Acquired by Criminal Offense and the major differences with regard to this law within the Assembly.

Moreover, Mrs. Haxhiu said the need for a law on the confiscation of unjustified property, where the burden of proof was on the suspects and not the prosecutor and stressed that Kosovo needed radical changes in the justice system that could best be done as in Albania by implementing vetting.

Mr. Arben Gashi emphasized that the situation should be seen from the optimistic point of view and that Kosovo hd better rule of law compared to the neighbouring countries such as Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia. According to Mr. Gashi, when talking about rule of law one should not exclusively focus on the fight against corruption or criminal justice, as criminal justice also included civil justice and the Family Law and other important parts dealing with the aspect of legal and social order.

The MP continued to present the work being done in drafting the Civil Code and emphasized the importance of the Law on Obligations and Contractual and Business Relations, the heritage right. Also, Mr. Gashi emphasized that the case of the specialized chambers for alleged war crimes and the attempt of their annulment last December was not mentioned, reiterating that LDK had opposed to it. Among other things, he added that, they supported that these specialized chambers begin their functioning as soon as possible to address these issues and provide the right answers.

8. Visa liberalization - fulfilment of preconditions

Mr. Lukas Mandl was the first speaker to point out that visa liberalization was among the most important topics in the relations between the European Union and Kosovo. He went on to emphasize that the European Parliament was in favour of visa liberalization, and expressed hope that the Council would follow the EP’s recent vote on visa liberalisation, stating that we did not have to fear a waive of asylum-seekers from Kosovo any more.

Mrs. Blerta Deliu Kodra and MP Armend Zemaj emphasized that the Kosovo Assembly would continue lobbying with the member states to represent the achievements of the state of Kosovo in meeting the criteria of the roadmap for liberalization, as well as to guarantee the member states that the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo would respect all obligations and responsibilities arising from this process. At the same time, they stressed that following visa liberalization the focus would be on the further implementation of the SAA and the Agenda for European Reform.

Mrs. Julie Ward in her speech stressed that we should admit that the rules of the game were not the same for Kosovo, so the criteria were higher than for other Western Balkan countries which mad Kosovo isolated for a long time. Mr. Ward also pointed out that visa liberalization would not only enable educational and cultural exchanges, but would also serve to reduce illegal migration.

Mrs. Dubravka Šuica expressed hoped that the Council would vote in favour for this process. She went on to explain the mechanism for the suspension of visas which she said would hopefully not be in place, promising that MEPs would continue to lobby for Kosovo.

Other members who participated in this debate were Mr. Memli Krasniqi (deputy of Kosovo).

9. Regional co-operation as a way forward towards EU integration

Mrs. Julie Ward highlighted the benefits of regional co-operation and cited the goals of the Berlin process. She also stated that civil societies manage to do what governments fail to do and so they should be supported. She stressed that "if we want stable and long-term stability in the region and good neighbourly relations then it is necessary to promote relations between people and cultural dialogue". She also said that she was happy that Kosovo would participate in some of the key European Union programs pointing out the importance of these programs and emphasizing that there could be no future for the Western Balkans without regional cooperation in many different spheres such as energy, security, migration, the fight against organized crime, human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

MP Elmi Reçica stressed that "As outlined in our strategy, the foreign policy of the Republic of Kosovo is aimed at the development of regional cooperation, namely good relations with neighbouring countries, and the provision of assistance for the realization of the Brussels agenda for a stable region , democratic and integrated in both the European Union and NATO, to provide security and not to be a source of insecurity." MP Reçica continued pointing out that "...the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo do not consider the regional cooperation as a political commitment for the integration of the country into the European Union, but above all as an indispensable need for creating favourable conditions for economic development of the country, increasing the level of education, the free movement of people, goods and services across the borders of the region, infrastructure linkage and the sharing of resources, experiences and knowledge.”

MEP Ms. Dubravka Šuica estimated that the most appropriate path towards European integration was through regional cooperation and that the Berlin process had provided a good opportunity in that respect. She also praised the good neighbourly relations with the countries of the region that the Republic of Kosovo had with Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. Mrs. Šuica also raised the issue of missing persons from the 1990s conflict saying that this issue was over- politicized, whereas regional co-operation had to do with this issue as well.

Other members who also participated in this discussion were Mrs. Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu (deputy of Kosovo).

10. Protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, with a focus on domestic violence and the situation of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians

Julie Ward cited statistics saying that 68% of women suffered from domestic violence. In this context, she also spoke about the financial sustainability of shelters and support from local and international authorities. Mrs. Ward condemned the recent attacks on journalists and spoke about the difficult conditions of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities and the level of unemployment. She called for children and adults to be aware of their rights and to hold politicians accountable for these rights.

Mr. Danush Ademi praised the achievements of the Institutions of the Republic of Kosovo regarding domestic violence and referred to the National Strategy of the Republic of Kosovo for Protection from Domestic Violence and the Action Plan for the period 2016–2020. Mr. Ademi also mentioned the legal infrastructure for this phenomenon and indicated the appointment of the National Coordinator against Domestic Violence. Mr. Ademi spoke of the entire coordination and institutional mechanism for dealing with the phenomenon of domestic violence as well as the allocation of means for dealing with this phenomenon.

Mr. Ademi went on with his speech saying that "regarding the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities, I would like to emphasize that Kosovo institutions have made important steps that our community and other non-majority communities are satisfied with regarding the access to basic rights and freedoms of non-majority communities in Kosovo". According to Mr. Ademi, the concern of the non-majority communities in general remains the socio-economic situation of their families , and that of the Roma in particular, who live in severe conditions, as well as the Egyptians and the Ashkali, which is a result of the general situation of Kosovo's underdeveloped economy.

Other members that also participated in this discussion were Mrs. Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu (Kosovo MP).

11. The European Parliament's pre-accession assistance to national parliaments

Co-Chair Mr Tonino Picula pointed out the importance of this instrument presentingthe European Parliament’s support program for pre-accession countries' parliaments including Turkey and countries of the Western Balkans. Ha said that the program’sactivities were set out in consultation with the respective parliaments and its main goal was to raise awareness of accession policies, parliamentary democracies, and the rule of law. Mr. Picula spoke about the activities that had been developed and were expected to be developed within this instrument, while for the same topic, Mrs Time Kadrijaj spoke mainly about the cooperation with the European Parliament as the most supportive institution for Kosovo.

12. Approval of the recommendations

The joint declaration and the recommendations were approved

13. Other issues

No other issues were raised.

14. Date and time of future meetings of the PSC

The next meeting will be held in Strasbourg on 13 and 14 March 2018. The meeting ended on 18 September at 13:25.