Lajçak warns of efforts to renew the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue

2024-09-01 18:10:50, Kosova & Bota CNA

The European special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia talks, Miroslav Lajcak, announced a visit to Pristina in the coming days to prepare the next meeting of the chief negotiators in Brussels, amid Western concerns about increasing tensions in the north of Kosovo following the actions of Pristina's authorities. for extinguishing Serbian parallel institutions.

" After a short stop in Brussels, I will go to Slovenia for this year's Bled Strategic Forum and to Pristina to prepare the next meeting of the chief negotiators in Brussels," Mr. Lajçak wrote on social networks.

The Bled Forum is held on September 2 and 3.

On Friday, the Kosovo authorities closed the Serbian parallel municipalities in the north, which, according to them, "have been operating under the directives of Serbia, violating the constitutionality and laws of the Republic of Kosovo."

Kosovo considers the municipal institutions appointed by Belgrade illegal

The abolition of Serbian parallel institutions was foreseen by the 2013 agreement for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations, but its implementation has stalled.

The closure was immediately criticized by the United States and the European Union, which drew attention to what they described as a continuation of the unilateral and uncoordinated actions of the Kosovo authorities.

In early August, authorities closed the Serbian Post Office in the north and unveiled plans to open the main bridge over the Iber River in Mitrovica to car traffic, amid criticism from the West.

The NATO peacekeeping forces in Kosovo on Sunday also carried out, as they said, a "periodic training" on that bridge.

The West demands from Kosovo that the issues related to the situation in the north of Kosovo be addressed within the dialogue in Brussels.

However, the 13-year talks for the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations have marked little progress.

The European Union and the United States have pressured the parties to implement an agreement they agreed on in February and March last year in Brussels and Ohrid.

European envoy Lajcak said during a debate on the future of European integration within the Globsec 2024 forum, that it seems that the societies of Kosovo and Serbia are not ready for the normalization of relations.

"Plus in February we will have parliamentary elections in Kosovo. So it would be naive to believe that you can expect progress before the elections. But we must make sure that we see a significant progress in implementation immediately after the elections", said Mr. Lajçak./ VOA