Lajcak officially continues mandate as dialogue emissary until January

Special representative for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia Miroslav Lajcak will continue to exercise this post by the beginning of the coming year.

That is after the ambassadors of the European Union's member states have agreed that Lajcik will continue the mandate until the end of January 2025.

The confirmation of the continuation of his mandate in managing the process of normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia comes several months after Lajcak was nominated for European Union Ambassador to Switzerland this post he had to take since September.

European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell has applied for continuing his mandate, while the purpose of this decision is to ensure that the vacuum is not created in the post until Lajcak's successor is appointed.

And for Lajcak's successor, she must decide Borell's successor.

The nominated Kaya Kallas for chief of European diplomacy must first take over the new post at the end of autumn, then address the potential names for the new emissar in dialogue.

Although nothing is yet certain, there are two names currently cited as potential candidates for Lajcak's post -- Danish Peter Sorensen, former EU ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Pekka Haavisto former foreign minister of Finland.

While it is not possible for the EU to change this approach to dialogue, European Union diplomats warn that the former obligations of the parties remain.

This, first of all, concerns continuing to insist that both Pristina and Belgrade should implement all agreements reached within the dialogue. /rtk