The new round of talks between Pristina and Belgrade, mediated by Brussels, has begun in a positive mood. Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, was the first to meet with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Borrel, and the mediator, Miroslav Lajçak.
The high-level meeting and the European proposal for normalization of relations were the main topics of discussion. Following Kurti, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic took his seat at the quadripartite table.
His discussions with EU officials were also centered on accepting the European proposal as the framework for the final agreement. The most important meeting will then take place, with Prime Minister Kurti and President Vucic sitting at the same table.
Gabriel Escobar, the United States’ special representative for the Western Balkans, is also in Brussels. There have been no media statements from the negotiating parties so far, but earlier this year, Kosovo’s Prime Minister called for an agreement with reciprocal recognition to be reached this year.
Meanwhile, Serbia’s President declared that he would not capitulate in the negotiations and would not return to the 1990s situation. The European Union’s spokesperson, Peter Stano, urged the parties to act like Europeans and move quickly toward a final agreement.
Peter Stano: Urgent progress is required, and we anticipate European behavior.
Before the Kurti-Vucic meeting in Brussels today, European Union spokesperson Peter Stano stated that everything depends on the Prime Minister of Kosovo and the President of Serbia agreeing to move forward.
Stano stated at a press conference that Brussels expects European behavior to progress in the dialogue.
“The past has taught us all not to try to predict anything because it could all go wrong, but everything ultimately depends on the ability of Kosovo’s Prime Minister and Serbia’s President to reach an agreement on the way forward. When it comes to dialogue in general, in terms of the European Union’s expectations, it has been stated numerous times that we expect European behavior to make progress in the dialogue. This is because the dialogue leads to a comprehensive agreement on the normalization of relations, the path towards the EU, and the aspirations of the European Union of Kosovo and Serbia that are led through dialogue that is facilitated by the European Union. And what we really need right now is to move forward so that we don’t have what we’ve had in the last few months, if not several months. As a result, we require European behavior in order to progress toward the ultimate goal of the dialogue, which is a comprehensive agreement on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia for the benefit of people on both sides in Kosovo and Serbia.”
EU SPOKESPERSON, PETER STANO