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EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak said Brussels expects a “far-reaching decision” from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on the Kosovo issue, and that the Serbian President rightly wonders whether the EU in turn offers a European perspective, reports Deutsche Welle.
“We hope you make a powerful decision, and you ask yourself: How can I explain to the citizens what is good for them? This negotiation process was connected with the European perspective of the country from the beginning, and now Vucic asks: how much will we get those European perspectives? ” “Lajcak said for Austrian Wiener Zeitung.
When asked by journalists from the Vienna daily if there is a lack of motivation for the agreement, because EU countries have not been interested in accepting new members for years, which was criticized by Aleksandar Vucic, Lajcak assessed that the Serbian president “asks a legitimate question”.
Lajcak said the hardest thing was “to restart the dialogue at all”, reiterating that the goal was a binding comprehensive agreement.
“We are currently discussing very complex issues, including financial claims and property rights,” Lajcak said.
According to him, the text proposal on expelled and disappeared persons as well as on economic cooperation has already been completed, but as he added, “the principle that nothing is agreed upon until it is agreed” also applies.
He pointed to the issue of the Union of Serbian Municipalities, which, as he recalled, had already been agreed in the 2013 and 2015 agreements, but they were not implemented.
“This is a very sensitive issue that was also addressed by the Kosovo Constitutional Court; that opinion must be taken into account. But I ask those who say that now is not the time for that: ‘When, if not now? Well, , you signed the agreement. ‘said Lajcak.
The Slovak diplomat pointed out that the Balkan countries expect a European perspective, and the EU expects them to work seriously on that, which in his opinion is “the chicken and egg principle.”
“We can blame each other, but it doesn’t benefit anyone,” Lajcak added.
Stating that the European Commission’s progress reports clearly show that “reform momentum has been lost” in the region, Lajcak said it should be clear to the Western Balkan countries that EU membership requires a lot of work. and that nobody gets membership like that.
According to him, during the previous European Commission, the political vision was lost, the technical details dominated and this was felt in the Western Balkan countries.
“But negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania should start soon, a new methodology has been introduced in the enlargement talks. The political vision is here again,” added Lajcak.
When asked about US ideas that would eventually include the exchange of territories between Kosovo and Serbia, Lajcak said that a European solution must be found that is adapted to the 21st century, because the region has a tragic past with the drawing of borders. along ethnic lines.
EU ministers tomorrow on dialogue
The EU foreign ministers will discuss tomorrow the dialogue on the normalization of Serbia-Kosovo relations, the first ministerial discussion since the EU has Lajcak as its special envoy to address the process.
According to Radio Free Europe, he is expected to report back to European foreign ministers, and Brussels officials have announced that Lajcak will travel to Belgrade and Pristina next week to speak to politicians there, as Brussels said. unlocking “ZSO problems.
As journalists were previously told, the EU special representative intended to meet the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia every three weeks, and the experts would meet practically every week.
However, after the highest-level dialogue, which took place on 7 September, there was no meeting between the President of Serbia and the Prime Minister of Kosovo in Brussels, and at the expert meeting, the Kosovo delegation met refused to discuss the JCC, while the Serbian side conditioned the continuation of the dialogue. Pristina to implement the agreement reached by the parties in 2013 and the details determined in 2015.
Neither benefit nor harm of the agreement in Washington
“The political situation in Kosovo is quite fragile. There have been some statements that have questioned whether the JCC is on the agenda. We can have an understanding of this situation for a certain period, but it is an issue that should be on the agenda, as it is this is an obligation that Kosovo has assumed and not implemented, “officials familiar with the Belgrade-Pristina negotiation process told reporters.
Referring to the agreement reached by the parties in the White House on September 4, European officials noted that any initiative from a third party that could contribute to the dialogue process was welcome.
“The agreement reached (in Washington) neither benefited nor harmed us,” said a Brussels official.
The official assures that the agreement in the US capital has several interesting and welcome elements, “such as a feasibility study in Lake Gazivoda”, but there are also some things that already exist in the Brussels process, such as the financing of various projects of connection with the EU or recognition of diplomas.
However, one thing that retaliates against the process, according to Brussels officials, is the part of the agreement that deals with relations with Israel.
“The objective of this dialogue is to bring Serbia and Kosovo closer to the European Union. The decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem does the opposite,” the European official warned.
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