During his tenure in Pristina, the head of the European Union office, Tomas Szunyog, worked for four years to bring Kosovo and Serbia closer to normalization.
However, the EU-mediated dialogue has not met expectations.
The latest meeting in Brussels between Kurti and Vučić yielded no results, leaving the parties with diametrically opposed positions.
Despite the stalled dialogue, the EU ambassador to Kosovo, Tomas Szunyog, remains optimistic about the future of this process, even in his final days in this position.
“Yes, I am optimistic about the future of the dialogue process. I am convinced that with commitment, we can move in the right direction toward reconciliation. As you have seen during my term, I have been fully committed to this issue because it is crucial for Kosovo and Serbia to normalize relations,” Szunyog said.
The European diplomat made it clear that without normalized relations, neither Kosovo nor Serbia can become part of the European Union.
At the same time, he called on the parties to begin implementing agreements.
“I want to make it clear once again that only through the full normalization of relations can Kosovo and Serbia join the large European family. So if you are seriously committed to joining the European Union, you must engage more in dialogue and implement all agreements. But it must be said that so far, the parties have not made sufficient progress in implementing the agreements,” he said.
Brussels considers the Ohrid Agreement reached by the parties in 2023 a major achievement.
Szunyog will be succeeded by Estonian diplomat Aivo Orav as the EU’s special representative in Kosovo.
According to the EU, he will take office on September 1, 2024, with an initial two-year mandate, succeeding Tomas Szunyog, who has held the post since 2020.
