Discussions continue in Brussels for ▪ Now Lajcak belongs to parties

After a three-part meeting between Bislimi and Petkov, with European Union Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak's mediator, will now have a separate meeting between the parties early in the morning.

A separate meeting between Bislim and Lajcak has already started and is expected to be followed by a meeting between Petkov and European mediator, ahead of another trilateral meeting later in the day.

Today's meetings are the continuation of last week's meeting, when both sides agreed to propose a solution to the dinar issue.

They are expected to discuss each side's proposals during these today's meetings.

The use of the dinar for cash payments in Kosovo was banned on 1 February, when the Kosovo Central Bank enacted a new regulation, which defined the euro as the only official currency in the country.

The issue, except that it angered Serbia, sparked differences even between the Government of Kosovo and the international community, as the Serb community in Kosovo has for years received payment in dinars from Serbia's budget.

Western diplomats urged Kosovo to suspend the regulation, to give affected citizens time to adapt to the new practice.

In an interview The REL last week, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, said no proposals for the dinar that are contrary to the BEC regulation will be accepted.

EU spokesman Peter Stano said after the meeting last week he expects at the March 25th meeting to continue discussions on finding a solution to the Serbian dinar issue.

Stano said last week's meeting “was important to sort out the facts and to clarify some” issues.

The “Piles agreed to continue discussions on the issue on Monday on March 25th, in order to discuss concrete proposals and find a short-term solution”, he added.

This was the first time Kosovo government officials participated in such talks since the BEC's regulation entered into force.

At last week's meeting, the agreement on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia was also discussed.

But Stano warned after that meeting that a high-level meeting between Kosovo and Serbia leaders is needed to discuss implementing this agreement.

The implementation of the agreement on the road to normalisation, as well as additional demands for formalism, need to be addressed by leaders during the next summit at a high level, within the” dialogue, Stano said last week.

Kosovo and Serbia reached the Base Agreement in Brussels in February 2023, meanwhile on March 18th in Ohrid, agreed to the Anex for implementation of this agreement.

The EU warned earlier this week that it will increase pressure on both countries for implementation of this agreement.

The agreement, among other things, requires good neighbourly relations, mutual recognition of documents and state symbols, as well as mutual respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also requires that the parties not hinder each other from integration processes, but does not require mutual recognition.