Osmani says sanctions imposed on Kosovo

Kosovo's President, Vjosa Osmani, who is attending the UN General Assembly in New York, says the measures imposed on Kosovo do not provide a solution to the situation. According to her, the only thing they do is harm the people of Kosovo.

These discussions took place during a meeting that the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell hosted with regional leaders.

The Kosovar president has also asked the European Union to speed up the process of granting Kosovo the associate member status.

Kosovo has applied for EU candidate status in December last year, while the conditions it needs to meet include the easing of tensions in the north of the country and the advancement in the process of dialogue with Serbia.

The EU introduced rare restrictions against Kosovo officials for failing to quell tensions with the ethnic Serb community which escalated in May, leading to Belgrade arresting three Kosovo policemen. The bloc reduced high-level visits, contacts and financial co-operation with the Balkan country, mirroring similar measures taken by the US.

The steps are reversible and “incremental”, with “financial and political consequences”, EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano has said.

Relations between Kosovo and Serbia dipped to a low point in May, when ethnic Albanian mayors who had won elections boycotted by the majority-Serb population in the north of the country tried to take office. Accompanied by law enforcement, their attempt ignited a violent protest that injured dozens of Nato peacekeepers and Serb demonstrators.