Kosovo-Serbia dialogue towards blockade

Dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, which is under way in separate rounds with the European Union's relief, is expected to continue, though the date of the meeting has not yet been officially confirmed.
Representatives of Kosovo institutions do not know when the technical dialogue in Brussels will continue. The latest meeting of this level of talks is held in March of this year.

Avni Arifi, the Kosovo Government's co-ordinator for dialogue with Serbia, told Radio Free Europe that even though the Kosovo side has called for the next meeting to be scheduled for the issue, there is still no answer.

With all our official application for meetings, this did not happen, since we received no response from Brussels. We have asked to address outstanding agreements so far and we have no indication when there will be meetings with the Republic of Serbia for the remaining” topics, Arifi said.

The evental invitation from Brussels to continue the dialogue, Arifi underlines, should contain the topics for deadlocks in implementing all agreements reached. On the contrary, he says, the invitation will not make sense.
We will actively participate in drafting that agenda. We're not going to Brussels just to go or we're not going there for selective selection of projects. We will go whenever there is a literal invitation, in which all signed but not implemented” are involved, Arifi said.

The situation of implementing agreements between Kosovo and Serbia has not gone well and has been in Kosovo's disparity, says connoisseur of the dialogue process.
Kosovo's former chief negotiator in dialogue with Serbia, Edita Tahiri, said the principles of dialogue in Brussels are known, meaning that without the reconciliation of the three sides -- Brussels, Pristina and Belgrade -- the agenda is not set.

The “to achieve this goal must have skills from those who have responsibility in the Government of Kosovo, that these are not light processes and that no invitations come into the air. For them, serious commitment, firm and serious attitudes” are needed, Tahiri said.
Former Minister for Dialogue in the Government of Kosovo Edita Tahiri estimates that Kosovo's current government in relation to dialogue has a inferior report and a derogatory attitude.

Kosovo's “government in relation to dialogue, as if it tends to carry it to other institutions, and this has cost Kosovo almost seven months since the arrival of this government. The implementation agenda of the agreements has not been well and has been at a disadvantage in Kosovo”, Tahiri said.

The fact that only a technical level meeting has been held in Brussels for months shows that they mismanage it. Only one meeting was held and he failed. Knowing that Serbia has five agreements it must implement, the government has had to be pro-active and not allow the process to get out of track”, Tahiri said.
The March meeting in Brussels was interrupted, as the Serbian side had withdrawn from the negotiating table, as order authorities in Kosovo had arrested a Serb citizen, suspected of war crimes.

Kosovo institutions are insisting on implementing reached agreements, which, according to Pristina, are blocked by Belgrade. First of all, energy deals are cited -- the one for opening the bridge over the Iber River, returning cadastral documents, recognising diplomas and allowing the operation of rented facilities in the north. The Serbian side, on the other hand, insists on the early formation of the Association/Uniting Serb-run municipalities.

Otherwise, with the 18th of this month, the Kosovo delegation before representatives of EU member states will make presentation of the achievements in the dialogue process.
Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia on normalising relations started in 2011, initially as dialogue on technical issues, with the European Union's mediation.

Recently, officials of the country's high institutions have warned the latest phase of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which, according to them, must end with mutual recognition.