The upcoming meeting of Kosovo and Serbia’s chief negotiators, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petković, is scheduled for December. This was announced by the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčak.
In a post on Facebook, Lajčak shared details about the recent bi-weekly meetings in Geneva, Tirana, and Paris, where discussions regarding the dialogue and the way forward took place.
“The last two weeks have been both productive and in-depth, with visits to Geneva, Tirana, and Paris. In my discussions with my counterparts at the International Committee of the Red Cross, Quai d’Orsay, and elsewhere, I engaged in significant conversations about the Dialogue and the path ahead,” Lajčak wrote.
“These conversations are crucial in shaping the work my team is doing as we prepare for the next meeting of Chief Negotiators in December. I look forward to the upcoming period,” he added.
The dialogue process, aimed at normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia, has been ongoing since 2011 under the mediation of three different EU High Representatives for Foreign Affairs—Catherine Ashton, Federica Mogherini, and Josep Borrell.
Each of them has made their contribution, with dozens of meetings and agreements reached. However, the final goal still remains far from being achieved.
The political leaders of the negotiations, Albin Kurti of Kosovo and Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia, have not met since September 14, 2023.
Ten days later, the attack in Banjskë occurred, where armed Serbian groups attacked the Kosovo Police, killing one officer. This escalation—the most serious in years—has led relations between the two countries to a critical point.
The outgoing head of EU foreign policy, Borrell, made one last attempt on June 26 to bring Kurti and Vučić together, but without success.
“It was the eleventh meeting of the leaders that I have chaired. This time, it was a meeting with the leaders, not between them. This time, there was no trilateral meeting,” Borrell said.
The EU’s foreign policy is now expected to be led by former Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas. She appeared last week in a hearing before the European Parliament, where she spoke about the war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East, the threat from China, and strengthening European defense, among other topics. However, surprisingly, she said very little about the Western Balkans—a region where the EU has significant influence and is directly involved in processes such as the mediation of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
She did not provide concrete statements regarding the dialogue she will be leading herself but pledged that EU enlargement with the countries of the Western Balkans will become a reality.
“I really think we need to have a success story in the next five years because this is not only about the prosperity of the region, but also to give hope to it,” Kallas said.
