Quint emissaries' visit, plans for Kosovo, Serbia

The EU's envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak and the four emissaries of Western states, stressed in Pristina the need for Kosovo to establish the Association of Serb-run municipalities without delay.

Five supporters of the most powerful Western states convey the message to Pristina that the events of September 24th in northern Kosovo have made it clear that both the suspension and normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia are now more urgent than ever. The European Union's special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, accompanied by US envoy for the Balkans Gabriel Escobar and French President Emannuel Macron's advisers, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melonizawad a meeting Saturday (21.10.2023) for more than two hours with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Their visit to Kosovo is realised under efforts to renew dialogue on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia and implementing an agreement leading to normalisation.

September “24 does not change the fact that Kosovo and Serbia have entered into agreement”

“Any condition or delay is unacceptable, and we also expect Kosovo and Serbia to fully meet their obligations from dialogue. The events of September 24th do not change the fact that Kosovo and Serbia have entered agreement on the road to normalisation earlier this year. Prime Minister Albin Kurti has the responsibility to make progress in normalising relations, if Kosovo wants to progress towards the European Union”, Miroslav Lajcak said after the meeting. As for the Association of Serb majority municipalities, Lajcak said that “stressed the need to establish the Association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo without delay.

Without that there will be no progress on Kosovo's path towards European integration. We assess the willingness of Prime Minister Kurti to continue our discussions immediately, Lajcak said. According to him, they have a plan for which he did not elaborate, and which after Pristina will also be presented in Belgrade at a meeting with Serbia's President, Alaxandar Vuciq. We always have a plan, so we have a plan and we discussed the plan with Prime Minister Kurti and we will also discuss it with President Aleksandar Vuciq later today. Now I won't give any more details”, Lajcak said.

The “Dialogue is more important than ever, because if there is no dialogue it can repeat escalation and this is not what we want, nor what you want. That's why we're here. The second one, there is no alternative other than dialogue, because dialogue brings normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and paves the European way for Kosovo and Serbia”, European envoy Miroslav Lajcak said.

Kurti: Key priority, urgent issues for Kosovo is security

Authorities in Pristina, meanwhile, say the dialogue process should be reconsidered following the September 24th attack. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, for his part, through a communique of media said that “has made clear to Western diplomats who were in Pristina today that Kosovo's top priority and urgent issue is its security, following the terrorist attack on Banjska on September 24th”, where Sergeant Africa Bulnjak was killed. The announcement confirms that “emisars have offered their plan for moving forward in dialogue, which Kurti has thanked”.

“At the meeting was talked about normalising relations between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia, the implementation of the Basic Agreement (Brussels, February 27th) and its Implementation Anex (Our, March 18th) respectively. The prime minister stressed that quality reflection and a new approach is necessary. The five emissaries offered their new plan for moving forward, for which the prime minister expressed his thanks and assessments. Discussions should continue intensively”, says the announcement of Prime Minister Kurti's office.

After the visit to Pristina, five Western diplomats travel to Belgrade, where they will meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq.

A day earlier, while in a joint statement adopted at the US and EU summit, held on 20 October in Washington, the United States of America and the European Union, Kosovo and Serbia were called on, for implementation of the “highway and unconditional” Agreement for normalisation of relations, and both of the countries return to dialogue. “We reconfirm our common commitment to stability in the Western Balkans and support the region's European perspective. All partners should continue the required reforms to advance on their European path”, it is said in the statement, in which it is further clearly highlighted:

“underline the need for Kosovo and Serbia, urgently to reduce tensions and quickly, without conditions to implement the road to normalisation of the reports between them and return to the EU facilitated dialogue”. / DW