EU formally proposes Lajcak for Kosovo-Serbia talks

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has directly attacked Slovak by presenting him as an anti-Kosovo diplomat, while the government has also shown disappointment that Slovakia's Foreign Minister will mediate dialogue.

Express brings you a full document with the duties Borrell assigned to Lajcak.

European Union for Foreign Policy High Representative Josep Borrell has proposed to the EU Council Miroslav Lajcak for Special Representative, who will handle the Pristina dialogue, Belgrade.

Under this proposal, the Slovak top diplomat takes office on April 1st of this year and ends on March 1st 2021. Until then, he must mediate he is obliged to mediate in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.

“Z. Miroslav Lajcak will thus be named EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina and the Western Balkans dialogue from April 1st 2020 to March 31st, 2021. The Council could decide that the Special Representative's mandate will be established earlier on the basis of an assessment by the Committee for Policy and Security and with a proposal by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs”, the document said.

Meanwhile, Kosovo Chief Diplomat Glauk Konjufca, in his report to the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Affairs, has said that Lajcak's appointment for Kosovo government is unacceptable, as the emissary for Kosovo and Bosnia. But, the EU Lajcak, based on the document provided by the Express newspaper, has not charged him with specific missions for Bosnia, but has left competencies for the entire Western Balkans.

“We are against the mix of Kosovo and Bosnia, because Miroslav Lajcak is said to be appointed heir to Borrell and that is unacceptable, which we have made clear to Lajcak. We do not want to be like Bosnia in terms of internal organisation”, he has said.

Konjufca also presented both disappointment and the fact that Lajcak comes from one of five EU states that do not recognise Kosovo's citizenship. Unlike the letter Kurt had sent long ago to Borelli, he had written that he would work with the EU Emisars for dialogue.

As it says in the document, the EU would like to achieve four objectives during Borrell's mandate.

“To reach an agreement on normalisation of reports between Kosovo and Serbia; 2. Achieving good neighbourlyity and promoting reconciliation; 3. Increasing the visibility of the EU and effectiveness through public diplomacy; 4. Supporting the region's efforts to advance its European path”.

The document says the mandate of the Special Representative is “that facilitates the Belgrade dialogue ʹ Pristina, on behalf of the High Representative and works for a comprehensive normalisation in reports through a legally binding agreement addressing all outstanding issues between the” parties. Also monitoring “and helping the parties' work on implementing previously reached agreements within the EU's easier dialogue framework”.

At the end of the 7-page document wrote that Lajcak should prepare Borrell's first work report in late September, then another report in late January 2021.

“The integration of this decision and its consistency with other contributions from the EU for the region should remain under regular review. The Special Representative must present the High Representative's progress report on September 30th 2020, and a report on implementation of the entire mandate by 31st January, 2021.

Otherwise President Hashim Thaci has been declared several times against the appointment of Slovakia's special EU representative for Kosovo dialogue Serbia.

The one in charge thinking of saying it quickly, if they haven't done it, which is the former Slovak diplomat, is the most not-credible man to deal with this process. There is one delegate that his state has recognised Kosovo, then our faith is zero. He has said he will vote for Kosovo membership in U NESTO, but then voted against, its trust is zero”, Thaci said at the March 9th media conference.

The dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in the past five years has been mediated by Italian Federica Moghrini, who was instead of Borrell, as EU High Representative for Foreign Policy.

While President Thaci had good reports with Moghrin, former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has accused the EU representative of having been part of Kosovo's partition ideas along with Thaci and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq.