Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia resumed on Sunday through a video conference organized by Brussels with PM Abdullah Hoti stressing that the final agreement should be reached by mutual recognition between the two countries and territorial integrity of Kosovo cannot be the topic of the negotiations.
The conference was held two days after the virtual summit organized by President Macron and Chancellor Merkel and Sunday’s virtual summit between Avdullah Hoti and Aleksandar Vucic is facilitated by EU Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak. It was planned to be a face-to-face meeting, but it changed at the request of Hoti. The meeting was postponed to July 16, in Brussels.
In his opening remarks, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell stated that the aim of the resumed dialogue is to “restart a serious and intense work in the normalization of relation between the two sides.” He emphasized that the dialogue should result in “a comprehensive, final and legally binding normalization agreement, an agreement that would resolve all outstanding issues.”
Borrell emphasized that the dialogue will be difficult, will require political courage from both sides, and commitment in the spirit of compromise and pragmatism. He said a Kosovo-Serbia deal is crucial for their EU accession, security and stability in the region, economic development, as well as for the EU.
Hoti says Kosovo’s territorial integrity no topic of negotiations
Kosovo PM Hoti pointed out that since the beginning of the dialogue in 2011 Serbia has not shown true intentions towards the normalization of relations. According to him, Serbia also postponed the process with the so-called purchase of time and the continuation of the campaign against the sovereignty of Kosovo.
“However, we remain committed to a peaceful process of normalization of our relations, which can only be achieved if Kosovo and Serbia respect each other’s statehood,” Hoti said.
According to RFE, Hoti pointed out that the new Government of Kosovo, by removing all customs barriers on goods from Serbia, gave a chance for dialogue and reaching a final, legally binding agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. Hoti said that the final agreement should be reached by mutual recognition between the two countries.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo emphasized that the topic of negotiations cannot be the territorial integrity of Kosovo and that the agreement must not affect the constitutional organization of Kosovo. “A comprehensive peace agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia should result in mutual recognition. Without such an end to this process, the agreement cannot succeed. Mutual recognition of the two countries is the only way to normalize relations and open the way for both countries in the EU integration process,” Hoti concluded.
Vucic says no talks on recognizing the ultimatum
The Albanian side came out with demands for preserving the territorial integrity of Kosovo, the Constitution of Kosovo, mutual recognition, membership in the UN, that other EU countries recognize Kosovo, and only then will they deal with the missing, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić adding that if that is the essence, then everything is meaningless, Radio Free Europe reported.
Vučić pointed out that he is ready to discuss the improvement of relations, but there would be no talks on recognizing the ultimatum. The President of Serbia also announced that the Serbian side “will obviously have a lot of work and difficult tasks”.
Speaking about the views of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Vučić underlined that they are the leaders of countries that have recognized Kosovo’s independence.
“They understand our position. Merkel and Macron are experienced politicians and they know what is real and what is not. We were not exposed to pressure from the two of them and I tried to respond to the ultimatums in a brave way. I think Macron and Merkel understood that. In any case, we must learn to talk to those who do not live in reality,” said Serbian President.
“The EU-facilitated dialogue on (a) comprehensive normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo is back on track after 20 months,” EU special envoy Miroslav Lajcak, who also took part in the meeting, said in a video statement after it had ended.
“We agreed on the main elements of the process. We also agreed on the agenda of our next meeting that will take place this coming Thursday, in Brussels, in person. I want to thank our partners for their constructive engagement today,” Lajcak said.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, around a decade after Belgrade sent troops into its former territory to crush an uprising by ethnic Albanian separatists. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s statehood, and tensions have simmered ever since.
The key dispute between Kosovo and Serbia remains Kosovo’s recognition. While by “normalization of relations” Kosovo understands its recognition by Serbia, the latter excludes this. /news agencies-argumentum.al
