We need a government with full powers, says the French ambassador to Kosovo, Olivier Guerot.
Three days before the December 28 elections, he declares to KosovaPress that the internationals need a partner in Kosovo, to work on the EU Growth Plan, the normalization of relations with Serbia and for the development of Kosovo. The French diplomat welcomes the removal of 50 percent of the punitive measures against Kosovo, while he is more reserved on questions about whether they will be completely removed at the beginning of next year.
"The message is that we need a partner. We are together your foreign supporters, your foreign friends. We need a government, a full government, with which we could work on the Growth Plan, of course, but also on many other issues, whether it's for the normalization of relations with Serbia, but also for the development of Kosovo, Kosovo legislation," he emphasizes.
Kosovo failed to form new institutions after the last elections on February 9.
Speaking about the political crisis and the failure to form institutions, the French diplomat says that a year without a government with a full mandate has been difficult for Kosovo.
"This year without a full government has been a bit difficult, I must say. Not that we haven't been able to work, as I said, on the wastewater treatment plant project. We have been able to work on a technical level. There were other initiatives that we could do on a technical level, but Kosovo is a democracy. As a democracy, there is a need for a government that is accountable to the parliament," he emphasizes.
The European Union decided a few days ago to lift 50 percent of the measures, while pledging to lift all punitive measures against Kosovo by the end of January 2026.
This development, according to Ambassador Guérot, is good news for Kosovo, as many important projects for the country, which had been blocked in recent years, will move forward.
"We have a very important project, which has been slowed down by the measures, for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant, which would cover Pristina, Obiliq, Fushë Kosovë and Graçanica. This is a joint project with Germany, in fact. So, I am looking forward to accelerating this project, which we have never stopped working on at the technical level. It is just one of the projects that we have. We have development projects with the French Development Agency, especially to help Kosovo with the 2030 Mediterranean Games and also to help it in the transition to cleaner energy. In Pristina here we are seeing the haze, which has become a cause of dirty energy and the agency is working," he adds.
Regarding the pledge that the measures will be lifted by January 2026, the French ambassador tells KosovaPress that the political decision has already been made by the European Council and that it is now up to the European Commission to implement it.
"I don't know the details. I can't tell you. The political decision was taken by the Council of Ministers and the European Council and now the Commission will implement it. So I can't go into details," he says.
The measures against Kosovo were imposed in 2023, in response to the escalation of the security situation in northern Kosovo, when Albanian mayors, emerging from elections boycotted by local Serbs, began their duties in municipalities in the north. /KP/
