Unable to bring them to the negotiating table, Lajcak and Borrell have started the second round of bilateral meetings with Kurti and Vucic.

In Brussels, the bilateral meetings between European envoys and the leaders of Kosova and Serbia have concluded.

Initially, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the EU Special Representative for the Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, met with Kosova’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti. They then met with Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic in the new round of talks for normalizing relations.

Before the meetings with Kurti and Vucic, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he expects dialogue meeting between Kosovo and Serbia to discuss achievements in the dialogue and the commencement of implementing the Agreement on the path to normalizing relations.

In a media statement before the meetings, Borrell said that the high-level preliminary meetings between Kosova’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic would discuss steps towards implementing the agreement.

“Unfortunately, the implementation of the [normalization] agreement has not yet begun. We hope to definitively discuss today how to ensure that we finally move forward with this agreement. In this regard, we will discuss the next steps, and it is clear that what the parties have agreed on must be implemented. Agreements are the basis of actions, but actions must follow agreements. Implementation is the key word,” Borrell said.

The EU’s foreign policy chief recalled that previous meetings between Kurti and Vucic had primarily been about “managing successive crises,” but he hoped this meeting would be different.

“Today, in the new round of dialogue, we hope to convey a different message and conclude differently. Our special envoy has been working, and we want to discuss with the two leaders what has been achieved in the dialogue during our mandate since 2019. It will also be important for us to know how both parties see the future of the EU-mediated dialogue, how the parties want to continue this process,” Borrell said.

He mentioned that in a few months, he and Lajcak would be succeeded by others, but emphasized that “the agreements, Council conclusions, and EU expectations will not change“.

“Normalization of relations between Kosova and Serbia is at the heart of the EU’s engagement in the Western Balkans. Normalization is also closely linked to the EU accession path,” Borrell stated.

/a.p./