The European Union confirmed on Tuesday that the next meeting within the framework of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, at the level of chief negotiators, will take place on December 17 in Brussels, and that both sides have confirmed their participation in this meeting. The EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Anitta Hipper, said that a range of issues will be reviewed at this meeting, including the implementation of the Agreement towards the normalization of relations.
The last meeting at the level of chief negotiators took place on October 23 in Brussels. Kosovo is represented by Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, while Serbia is represented by the Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petar Petkovic. According to diplomatic sources of Radio Free Europe, the European envoy for the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, has reported to the member states on the state of the dialogue and has said that the parties have a clear lack of readiness to make any progress in the implementation of the Normalization Agreement.
The parties reached agreement on the agreement in Brussels in February last year, and on an implementing annex in Ohrid, North Macedonia, a month later. The two countries have not taken steps towards implementing the pact and blame each other for this. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, has expressed her readiness to actively engage in the dialogue process.
Lajcak's mandate, which has been extended several times, will end at the end of January next year. It is expected that the chief diplomat Kallas, in cooperation with the member states, will decide on the continuation of the dialogue, including whether there will be a successor to Lajcak in that position, and who that successor will be. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence, which was declared in 2008. The two countries have been negotiating in Brussels with the mediation of the European Union since 2011, and have reached several agreements, but not all of them have been implemented.
*This article was published by REL and reposted by Tiranapost.al
