Discussions about the implementation of various technical-level agreements, as well as the importance of starting discussions on the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Implementing Annex, were addressed at Wednesday’s meeting between the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Peter Sorensen, and the acting Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi.
The European Union (EU) Special Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Peter Sorensen, met on Wednesday with the acting Deputy Prime Minister, Besnik Bislimi, in a visit that the Danish politician called “normal” within the framework of his commitments.
After the meeting held at the government building and lasting more than an hour, Sorensen declined to comment on the future of the EU-facilitated dialogue process.
“Today I am in Pristina as part of the mandate exercise. My team and I are conducting working-level visits – this is a regular part of our mission, and you will see other similar visits in the future. I am very happy to be here. From here I will continue to Belgrade, and then I will return to Brussels. That’s it for now,” Sorensen emphasized.
And in the statement issued by the government, it was announced that Bislimi and Sorensen discussed the way forward towards implementing the agreements that have been reached so far.
“The First Deputy Prime Minister in Office for European Integration, Development and Dialogue of the Republic of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, received the European Union Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue, Peter Sørensen. This was the second meeting between them in Pristina, after the one held last month. They discussed the implementation of various technical level agreements, and further emphasized the importance of starting discussions on the implementation of the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Implementing Annex within the framework of the dialogue process. Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi thanked Emissary Sørensen for the meeting and conversation, as well as the cooperation between them,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Before Bislim, envoy Sorensen also met with the commander of KFOR in Kosovo, Enrico Barduani. In a Facebook post, the NATO mission in Kosovo said that Sorensen and Barduani exchanged views on security developments in the Western Balkans region.
“The Commander underlined KFOR’s efforts to ensure a safe environment for all people living in Kosovo and in support of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, where KFOR and the EU operate in permanent coordination,” the KFOR statement said.
This was Sorensen’s second visit to Kosovo since he took office in early February and was undertaken at a time when Kosovo is in institutional limbo, as it has not been able to constitute the new legislature of the Assembly and subsequently form the Government, for more than two months since the February 9 elections.
The differences in how the parties see the path towards normalization of relations were reiterated to the new EU envoy for the dialogue, Sorensen, during his first visit to Pristina and Belgrade. From his predecessor, Miroslav Lajcak, Sorensen also inherited a draft statute of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities, which Kosovo has been asked to formalize.
Regarding the possibility of eventual compromises, the new dialogue emissary emphasized that this is up to the parties in the talks.
President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti have asked Sorensen to lift the measures against Kosovo and for the agreements reached within the dialogue to be implemented in full and in a balanced manner.
For the Association, Osmani had said that the proposed draft contradicts the constitution and the laws of the country.
And Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in his first meeting with Sorensen, set the establishment of the Association as a precondition for the normalization of relations. He also complained to the European diplomat about the treatment that, according to Vučić, Pristina is giving to Serbs in Kosovo.
The last meeting in Brussels mediated by the European Union between Kosovo and Serbia took place on December 17th of last year.
European Union chief Kaja Kallas said earlier this month that the EU is addressing the mistakes in the Brussels dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, in order to reinvigorate the process of normalizing relations between the two neighboring countries.
During her visit to Tirana, Kallas was asked about the stalled dialogue, to which she said that what is being done this month is analyzing the process.