Officials of the European Union estimate that the public statements of the leaders of Kosova and Serbia, where they present preliminary conditions, provide an obstacle in the organization of a high-level meeting in Brussels.

It is this kind of public stance, of both leaders, that they show their conditions in advance, which creates the biggest obstacle to setting a date for the meeting in Brussels. Holding the next round of talks depends on whether the leaders from Prishtina and Belgrade agree on the date of the first agenda.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said earlier that he will go to Brussels when Prishtina forms the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian majority. This statement came after the European Union’s high representative for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, said on February 9 that soon there will be a new meeting between the Serbian president and the Prime Minister of Kosova, Albin Kurti, to continue discussions on the EU’s proposal for the normalization of relations.

On Monday (February 6), Kurti stated that the establishment of the Association is not his priority, while last week he revealed the six conditions for its formation.

The US and the EU have increased pressure on Kosova to implement the agreements reached for the Association in 2013 and 2015. The Constitutional Court of Kosovo said in 2015 that some points of the agreement were not in harmony with the Constitution, but could be harmonized.

The relations between Kosova and Serbia were the topic of the summit of heads of state or government of the EU, which took place on Thursday, February 9. The order for expectations from the dialogue was also included in the conclusions that were adopted at this summit.

“The Council of the EU welcomes the European proposal to establish the relations between the two parties on a new and stable basis as a historical opportunity which should be used by both parties in order to realize their European perspective”, sates the text of the conclusions that was approved at the two-day summit of EU heads of state in Brussels.

Kosova and Serbia hold a dialogue under the mediation of the EU, which also has the support of the US since 2011. The process aims to normalize relations between the states. However, Kosova and Serbia have different views regarding the end of the process.

While Prishtina wants a final agreement to include mutual recognition, Belgrade insists on a compromise solution, without specifying what kind of compromise it is.

/a.p./