Besnik Bislim meeting with Petkov in Brussels begins

The meeting between Kosovo and Serbia delegations has started in Brussels, with the mediation of the European bloc's representative for dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.

This meeting precedes two separate meetings of Kosovo and Serbia delegations with Lajcak and his team, which took place on 7 September.

The September 8th meeting is under way, despite the parties saying they have not reached reconciliation either for the trilateral meeting agenda.

On September 7th, Kosovo's delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, has discussed with the EU the topic of the dead, energy, license plates and official visits, as official Pristina banned the entrance of Serbia's delegation chief Petar Petkov.

According to Kosovo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Petkovic has been barred from entering because of the “provocative statements” he has made during the last three visits.

However, the MPJD has not clarified what statements are being made.

Kosovo, according to Deputy Prime Minister Bismini, does not want to be discussed again on agreements reached earlier under dialogue, but wants only to be discussed for implementation.

For some agreements reached earlier, such as the one for car rails, which is soon to be expired by passing deadlines, as Besnik Bislimi has warned, Kosovo will use the reciprocity principle.

Serbia's delegation, meanwhile, has insisted that it be discussed forming the Association of Serb majority municipalities, on the Agreement for Justice, the one of official visits, and the issue of the missing. According to diplomatic sources, official Belgrade is insisting that it not be discussed for the comprehensive agreement on normalisation of reports, but first be discussed forming association.

According to earlier warnings from the Kosovo delegation, the trilateral meeting is expected to discuss the issue of missing persons during the recent war in Kosovo. But, even around this topic, there is an obstacle to the fact that Velko Ollarovic is part of Serbia's delegation, and the Kosovo side has said it does not want to meet with him.

Even earlier, the Government of Kosovo has said that Odreovic has been the main person of Slobodan Milosevic's regime in Kosovo, and he must be questioned for missing persons and not be part of a commission for the missing.

Meetings of this round of talks in Brussels are important for organising a high-level meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq. Kurti-Vucciq meeting is expected to take place in late September.

The last summit at the high level was held on 19 July, but it has not produced any concrete results.

Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, with EU mediation, started in 2011. This process is reportedly aimed at fully normalising relations between the two countries.