Lajçak: Soon there will be a new round of Kosovo-Serbia negotiations

2024-09-06 14:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Lajçak: Soon there will be a new round of Kosovo-Serbia negotiations

Miroslav Lajcak

The envoy of the European Union for the Kosovo-Serbia talks, Miroslav Lajcak, said on Friday that there is an agreement to organize a new round of negotiations to unblock the implementation of the agreement on the normalization of relations between the parties, but did not announce the date the new meeting.

He made these comments in Pristina after a meeting with Kosovo's chief negotiator for talks with Serbia, Besnik Bislimi, as part of efforts to renew talks, amid disagreements between the government in Pristina and Western diplomacy about the situation in northern Kosovo.

Mr. Lajcak said that last year's agreement reached in Brussels and Ohrid is legally binding for both parties and according to him, Serbia has withdrawn a letter sent to the European Union in December 2023 in which it was said that the agreement is acceptable only in a context that does not refer to the de facto and de jure recognition of Kosovo.

"The letter has been withdrawn. So, and there are statements here and there that are not useful, but the agreement as such is valid in its entirety and more than that, the agreement has also become part of Kosovo's path towards the European Union and Serbia's path towards the Union European", said Mr. Lajçak.

Kosovo Foreign Minister Donika Gërvalla said during a press conference that there is no information that Serbia has withdrawn the document.

"I believe that Mr. Lajçak is talking about the partial withdrawal of that letter of former Prime Minister Ana Bërnabi?, who, however, does not withdraw from not recognizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kosovo, which is a completely unacceptable approach for us". she said.

The European Union as well as the United States are calling on the parties to choose open issues in the framework of the talks in Brussels and avoid actions that could incite tensions.

Kosovo has come under the criticism of Western diplomacy for what have been called unilateral and uncoordinated actions in the north inhabited by a Serbian majority. A week ago, 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 operation provoked the reaction of Belgrade and Serbian political representatives in the north, while a group of citizens in Serbia warned for Friday evening the blocking of the roads leading to the border crossings with Kosovo with the request for the withdrawal of the Kosovo police forces from the north and the return of the institutions of Serbia there.

"I believe that there should be no blockage and I hope there will be no blockage because this has a negative impact on the freedom of movement in people's lives," said Mr. Lajcak.

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

Part of the agreements reached over the years was the opening of the main bridge over the Ibër River in Mitrovica.

"The position of the European Union, I think is well known, but I will repeat it. The bridge must be opened, but this opening must be done in close cooperation with Kosovo's international partners, and we were discussing the details of this process", said Mr. Lajçak.

The Government of Kosovo, through a communique, quoted chief negotiator Besnik Bislimi as having said in a meeting with Mr. Lajçak that "the opening of the bridge... is a matter addressed and agreed upon in Brussels and that it should be opened according to the existing agreement and the conclusions of the European Commission's report of 2020, which estimates that the works on the bridge have been completed and it should be opened without further delays and obstacles".

The Kosovo government has also been criticized by the opposition in Kosovo for lack of coordination with allies on many issues. But the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has repeated on several occasions that the differences in attitudes have never been in goals, values ??and principles, but only in strategies, tactics and operations./ VOA