European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said that Brussels is waiting for the formation of a new government in Pristina in order to engage more with Kosovo regarding the dialogue for the normalization of relations with Serbia.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe’s Balkan Service, Kos reiterated the European bloc’s position that normalizing relations is a condition for Kosovo and Serbia on their path toward membership in the European Union.
“And we are working on this, in particular with our High Representative, Kaja Kallas. We are constantly engaged with Serbia on this issue, while with Kosovo less so in recent months, because we are still waiting for the formation of a new government. But this remains one of the priorities in the entire process of the Western Balkans six,” said Kos.
Kosovo and Serbia have been conducting dialogue under the mediation of Brussels since 2011. The process initially began at a technical level and then the parties also engaged in dialogue at the political level.
During the process, the parties have reached a number of agreements, but not all of them have been implemented on the ground.
Since the elections held in February, Kosovo has still not formed a new executive. Even during this period, when Kosovo is being led by an acting Government, rounds of talks at the level of chief negotiators have been held in Brussels. The last one was held on September 11 – a meeting that produced no results.
Unlike the meetings between the chief negotiators, Kosovo and Serbia have not held a dialogue at the political level since September 2023. The last round of political dialogue took place just a few days before the armed attack in Banjska, Zvecan, when a Kosovo policeman was killed.
Kosovo blames Serbia for the attack, but Belgrade denies having a hand in it.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, after taking office as head of European diplomacy earlier this year, told Radio Free Europe that the dialogue process has stalled and that the EU is considering other means of normalization.
She then stated that Brussels is analyzing the mistakes made in this process.