Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, and Serbia’s, Petar Petkovic, are meeting today in Brussels with the European special envoy for talks, Miroslav Lajcak, in an effort to find a solution regarding the implementation of the agreement for the normalization of relations between the parties.
Last week, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic failed to make progress in normalization talks, and a tripartite meeting planned with the mediation of European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell did not take place, due to Kosovo’s refusal to to participate.
Envoy Lajcak said on Monday evening in a post on social networks that despite the fact that in the last meeting last week the parties failed to agree on the way forward, the work will continue “to encourage the chief negotiators to work on concrete steps for unblocking the implementation of the agreement”.
Despite the Western pressure, the agreement reached last year in Brussels and Ohrid has not yet started to be implemented, although the European Union has emphasized several times that the agreement is legally binding for the parties and progress towards European integration depends on its implementation.
A day ago, the spokesperson of the European Union, Peter Stano, said that the agenda of the meeting is determined by the greatest urgency, which is the beginning of the implementation of the agreement on the path to the normalization of relations, stressing that mutual recognition would be the logical course of this the process.
The agreement does not envisage mutual recognition, it requires good neighborly relations, recognition of documents and symbols and respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is considered de facto but not de jure recognition of Kosovo by Serbia./Voa/
