Stano: Brussels and Ohrid agreements legally binding

BRUSSELS - EU spokesperson Peter Stano said on Friday the Brussels and Ohrid agreements from the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue were legally binding in their entirety to both parties and that their comprehensive implementation was an integral part of the parties' EU paths.

Stano said this in a statement released following a letter in which the Serbian government expressed a reservation over a declaration adopted at Wednesday's EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels.

He said the Brussels agreement on the path to normalisation and its implementation annex from Ohrid had become legally binding through a March 18 written statement by EU foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell.

Stano said this was a consistent EU position stated publicly on several occasions.

Serbian PM Ana Brnabic filed the reservation to the EU declaration on Thursday to protect Serbian interests, making it clear that Kosovo-Metohija remained an integral part of the Republic of Serbia in line with UNSCR 1244, the Serbian government said in a statement.

Non-recognition of Kosovo-Metohija and non-acceptance of Kosovo-Metohija as a UN member as well as a member of the UN system of organisations and agencies are Serbia's clear red lines, the government said.

"The Republic of Serbia, committed to the process of European integration and talks, generally, with reservations, aligns with the December 13, 2023 EU-Western Balkans Summit Brussels Declaration as a political statement and a legally non-binding document," the text of the reservation reads.