The agenda is still unknown: Why Meet Kurti and Vuciq in Brussels on Thursday

After more than a year, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, will meet in Brussels on 18 August, within the dialogue mediated by the European bloc. Although the agenda has not yet been made public, the meeting is expected to focus on lowering tensions between the two countries.

On August 31st and 1st, local Serbs in northern Kosovo blocked roads leading to the two border crossings -- Jarinje and Brnjak -- connecting Kosovo and Serbia. The barricades were set up to challenge the two decisions of the Government of Kosovo, dealing with Serb license plates and documents.

But, the fact that it has spent more than a year from the latest round of dialogue to the high political level, from some diplomats in Brussels, is seen as evidence that this process has not gone as expected and there have been major setbacks.

The reasons Kurti and Vuciq have not held meetings within the dialogue concern what the EU has called <x0-mune readiness and will of the parties to achieve concrete progress in the” dialogue.

EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell, a few months ago, said he would not call any summit at a high level, as long as he does not notice there is the will of the parties to achieve results at such meetings.

At this time, there have been also rare meetings in Brussels among chief negotiator teams, but concrete results from such meetings have been minor. At the latest meeting of dialogue at the level of the chief negotiators, on 21 June, the parties reached reconciliation for the Energy Agreement implementation guide. But implementation of this accord is facing obstacles and the deadlines for implementation are not being respected.

In the EU, they have not yet disclosed the agenda of the August 18th meeting. But Kurti has declared that at this meeting he will not speak about the decisions of the Government of Kosovo, of Serb plates and documents.

Meanwhile, in Belgrade they insist that the topic of dialogue be the establishment of the Serb majority municipalities.

Serbia wants Kosovo to implement agreements reached in 2013 and 2015, within dialogue. But, the government of Kosovo has been declared against a single-ethnic association, already recently, the United States' envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, has expressed the position that the association should start discussions, but it should not create a “states within the state”.

Diplomats in Brussels say the goal of the August 18th meeting is to reduce tensions and avoid an eventual escalation of the situation. This meeting, according to diplomats, aims to prepare the grounds even for more frequent high-level meetings, in order for Kosovo and Serbia to make progress towards reaching a comprehensive agreement on normalisation of reports.

“The EU expects leaders to discuss these challenging topics at the next summit under dialogue, invited by High Representative Borrell, between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq”, said in the bloc's latest communiqué.

But the parties have opposing positions not only for the agreements reached but also for the purpose of dialogue. Kosovo insists that dialogue should focus on mutual recognition, meanwhile, Serbia seeks a compromise solution. /Text complete: REL/