The chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petković, will meet on Tuesday in Brussels as part of the dialogue for normalizing relations.
Confirming the news, EU spokesperson for foreign policy and security, Peter Stano, said that the priority in the meeting will be the “urgent initiation of the implementation of the Agreement on the path to normalization of relations.”
Kosovo and Serbia agreed on this agreement last year, but it has not been implemented on the ground.
The meeting between the chief negotiators was also announced last week by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, following separate talks they had with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
Kurti and Vučić did not meet together due to the conditions set by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, which the President of Serbia did not accept.
Kurti conditioned the continuation of the dialogue for normalizing relations with three demands: the signing of the Agreement on the path to normalization of relations, the withdrawal of the letter in which Serbia officially refused to implement the agreement with Kosovo, and the extradition to Kosovo of Milan Radoičić, suspected of the armed attack in Banjska.
Stano told reporters on Monday that the goal of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is the “normalization of relations.”
“This task has been given by the EU as a mandate for the facilitators of the dialogue. So, the mandate is to help the two sides normalize their relations. Recognition [of Kosovo by Serbia] is not part of the mandate. Naturally, a logical consequence of normalization would be recognition. But this is something very far along the process,” said Stano.
Diplomatic sources in Brussels say that the EU is trying to get the parties to agree on a sequenced plan for the implementation of the Agreement for the normalization of relations.
So far, the parties have had different positions on this.
Kosovo has not accepted that the primary priority be the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, while Serbia has refused to fulfill obligations related to Kosovo’s membership in international organizations and Kosovo’s territorial integrity.
On Monday, the Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca, also spoke about the meeting between the chief negotiators.
Asked by journalists about the purpose of these talks, given Kurti’s conditions, he said that “every instance must maintain that position” regarding those conditions.
Those conditions are reasonable, according to him, and “need to be clarified in order for the dialogue to succeed.”
Konjufca said that the highest standards, both in politics and ethics, are expected from the EU.
According to him, Borrell and his envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, “have not acted according to the highest European standards.”
“Their private and individual preferences have had a significant impact on how they have shaped the dialogue,” said Konjufca.
Previously, the EU has rejected similar claims by Kurti that European mediators are not neutral.
