Lajçak, again in Pristina - Will there be new developments?

2024-03-05 09:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The envoy of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, is in Pristina on Tuesday in an effort to move forward in the "stalled" dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia. Lajcak in Pristina meets the chief negotiator of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, who last time refused to go to Brussels to discuss the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which prohibits the Serbian dinar, a regulation that also raised international concerns. The government announces that in Tuesday's meeting with Lajcak, it will be discussed " for moving forward with the implementation of the Basic Agreement".

The basic agreement for the normalization of relations reached on February 27, 2023, has 11 articles, which, among other things, foresees a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo. It also envisages mutual recognition of state symbols, while asking Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue, including the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority. Lajcak visits Pristina just one day after the European Union and the US called on Kosovo to fulfill the agreements reached in the dialogue with Serbia, if it wants to join the EU and NATO.

Hovenier: Moving forward on the European path only through dialogue

The American ambassador in Pristina, Jeffry Hovonier, speaking at a conference on "Parliamentary Diplomacy for Regional Security and Euro-Atlantic Integration", said that Kosovo can move forward on the European path only through dialogue. "The international community wants Kosovo to progress on the European path , we have created the conditions to achieve this, and the only way is through dialogue mediated by the EU. We hope to see efforts to move forward", said Hovenier, reminding Kosovo of its obligations.

"The international community and partners would treat Kosovo differently than now, if they were implementing these obligations, if they were approving the draft statute for the Association that is not in conflict with the constitution, and if they were moving towards the decision of the Constitutional Court for the Monastery of Deçan", emphasized Hovenier.

The association can damage the functionality of the state of Kosovo

The international community asks Kosovo to establish the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority, but the Government of Kosovo expresses its shyness that such a mono-ethnic association could damage the functionality of the Kosovo state. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, blames the Serbian side for stalling the dialogue and according to her, it is "impossible to hold talks with a state that is preparing for war". concrete actions like the event of September 24 when we had an act of attack against the Republic of Kosovo and we claim that we have a dialogue in Brussels, then every student will understand that this is not what is taught in school about this process", said Gërvalla, responding to criticism of Quint countries./ DW