The invitation that the outgoing EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, sent to Pristina to participate at the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (GYMNICH) is a calculated political decision, Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović has stated today.
“This decision has been made despite direct opposition of at least one EU member state, which was an expression of disrespect towards member states that do not recognise the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija”, assessed Joksimović for Tanjug, when asked to comment on the invitation Mogherini sent to Pristina.
She has assessed that, by making this unilateral political decision, Mogherini is blatantly violating the dialogue agreement on regional representation under which Pristina representatives can only participate in regional meetings.
“Mogherini’s decision has established a targeted precedent to the current practice of inviting only representatives of EU candidate countries to GYMNICH meetings, and this practice has been applied since the founding of the EU. In this way, candidate countries are put in an unequal position, as an intentional deviation from the rule that everyone should progress according to their own merits in the enlargement process”, emphasised Joksimović.
According to her, instead of being sanctioned for its unconstructive actions, Pristina is given a privileged status compared to the others in the region, particularly to the countries that have consistently fulfilled the conditions for acquiring the candidate status.
“We expect that new EU High Representative Borrell will not accept this practice, and Serbia will take appropriate action when Borrell takes office in order to clarify the situation with representatives of the new EU administration”, stressed Joksimović.
Source: Tanjug
