The EU’s special envoy for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, will stay in Pristina this week for meetings with leaders of Kosovo’s institutions, but also with representatives of the opposition.

At the beginning of next week, he will stay in Belgrade for two days. The visits were confirmed by Peter Stano, EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security.

According to Stano, Lajçak will stay in Pristina on March 9 and 10, while on the 13th and 14th he will stay in Belgrade. He said that after the meeting that the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia, Albin Kurti and Aleksandar Vucic, recently had in Brussels, on February 27, Lajcak will go to Prishtina and Belgrade to continue those discussions and to prepare the meeting, the next one on March 18 in Ohrid.

On February 27 in Brussels, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, agreed that there is no longer a need for discussions regarding the European proposal, which also has the support of the United States, Germany, France and Italy. 

Stano has confirmed that now the main goal is to reach an agreement about a plan as well as modalities for the implementation of the agreement. He said that the final goal is the comprehensive normalization of relations, through a legally binding agreement, but this, according to him, will follow at the end of the process.

Mutual recognition is not decisively mentioned in the European proposal. However, in article two of the proposal, it is stated that the parties must respect each other’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The proposal includes the commitment of the parties to respect all the agreements reached so far in the dialogue for the normalization of relations, as well as their commitment not to hinder each other in the integration processes.

/k.s/