Meeting with Lajcak/Vucic: We will respect the dialogue agreements

2023-11-14 15:18:26, Kosova & Bota CNA

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, during the meeting with the special envoy of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, said that Serbia is always ready for dialogue and to respect everything it has signed and agreed to.

In a press release issued by the Presidency of Serbia, it is also stated that Vucic has reiterated that Serbia wants expansion, peace and stability.

Also in the announcement it was said that Vu?i? insisted on establishing the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo, but other important topics of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia were also discussed in the meeting.

The director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Petar Petkovic, said after the meeting that Lajcak's invitation to continue the dialogue for the normalization of relations on November 16 in Brussels has been accepted.

"We will discuss the text of the Association's draft statute. Our side will go with a team of experts", said Petkovic.

On November 16, the chief negotiator of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, and that of Serbia, Petar Petkovic, will meet in Brussels.

Lajcak's visit to Serbia comes after Lajcak visited Kosovo on November 7, where he discussed with representatives of the Government and the opposition about the new draft statute for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities.

Kosovo-Serbia relations, Vucic meeting face-to-face with Lajcak in Belgrade
November 14, 11:50

The new proposal "for a modern European model" for the Association's draft statute was presented to Kosovo and Serbia by the members of the "Big Five" during their visit to these two countries on October 21.

The delegation consisted of representatives of the EU, the United States, Germany, France and Italy.

Kosovo and Serbia in the dialogue for normalization, which is mediated by the EU, have reached two agreements on the Association, in 2013 and 2015. However, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo found that the agreement on the principles for the establishment of the Association was not in full harmony with the act the highest legal body of the state and said that it can be harmonized through by-laws.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has spoken out against a single-ethnic association, arguing that it can affect the functionality of the state.

However, during a meeting with European leaders in Brussels on October 26, Kurti said he has accepted the proposed new draft statute.

The document of this draft statute has not been made public. However, Kurti has said that it was written more in consideration of the letter than the spirit of the Constitution of Kosovo.

Earlier in the year, Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement towards the normalization of relations. This agreement, of 11 articles, provides, among other things, a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while asking Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous dialogue agreements ./ REL