If one Party withdraws from this Agreement, it shall cease to be effective only for that Party within 30 days from the date of delivery of the notification thereof to the Depository.

The Agreement is drawn up in the English language in one original version, which will remain in the possession of the Depository. Each Party will receive one certified copy of the Agreement.

Done at Berlin on 14 OCT 2024 Statement by the Republic of Serbia upon the signing of the agreement on Access to Higher Education and Admission to Study in the Western Balkans

Taking into consideration that the territory of Kosovo and Metohija is a part of the Republic of Serbia which is under international administration in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999), the signing of and the subsequent expression of consent to bound by the Agreement on Access to Higher Education and Admission to Study in the Western Balkans, by the Republic of Serbia, cannot be interpreted as a recognition of the purported independence of Kosovo nor does it create between the Republic of Serbia and Kosovoa treaty relation within the meaning of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), which regulates the conclusion and application of treaties between states.

The conclusion and the application of the Agreement on Access to Higher Education and Admission to Study in the Western Balkans, by the Republic of Serbia, by no means prejudice the issue of the status of Kosovo*, or the competences and powers of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and KFOR in accordance with the UN Secretary Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government in Kosovo (UNMIK Regulation 2001/9 of 15 May 2001).

No action taken by the Provisional Institutions of Self- Government from Kosovo in the course of the conclusion and the application of this Agreement can be considered valid if it exceeds the competences of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government from Kosovo or it impinges on the competences and powers reserved for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, as defined by the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and the Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self- Government in Kosovo.

 This designation is withour prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence