Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, stated that the new European Union mediator for the dialogue, Peter Sorensen, has a clear vision for moving forward, following Tuesday’s trilateral meeting in Brussels with Sorensen and his Serbian counterpart, Petar Petković. However, he added that it is still too early for concrete results.
In an interview after the meeting, Bislimi detailed all the topics discussed in the trilateral meeting and subsequently in his bilateral meeting with Sorensen.
“We had a series of meetings. We started with a trilateral meeting, which was the first of this format with Sorensen. The idea was to have three different topics in today’s meetings. Initially, we agreed on the principles of how trilateral meetings with Sorensen will be conducted. We agreed with all of Sorensen’s proposals,” he revealed.
According to Bislimi, Sorensen is demonstrating a significant investment in moving the dialogue forward. “In terms of concrete results, it is still early. Sorensen has a more or less clear vision of how to proceed in the next meetings. Next week, he will send two of his closest associates to Kosovo and Serbia to gather additional information, and then in early July, he will decide on the next step. Sorensen also wants another meeting in July. This indicates to me that he has a great investment in the process, a desire to see results, but so far, it is known that Serbia has sabotaged the process,” Bislimi stated.
The chief negotiator said that the main part of the trilateral meeting focused on how to move forward with the implementation of the Basic Agreement. “…we presented our ideas on how we can ensure the Basic Agreement is implemented. There was no full agreement between the parties. We were told to submit our ideas in writing at the next meeting,” he said.
Bislimi further elaborated on what he discussed in his bilateral meeting with Sorensen. “The missing persons issue was the most important topic for us, where we showed what Kosovo has done in recent months and what Serbia has not. We also discussed financial transfers to citizens in the Preševo Valley, and we guaranteed that we are not committing any violations. We also talked about the functionalization of the interconnection with Serbia, which is increasing energy transmission costs not only for Kosovo but also for the region. We also discussed the integrated border management that has stalled due to Serbia’s fault and the systematic disinformation campaign by Serbia,” Bislimi concluded.
