Implementation of agreements reached by Kurti and Vuciq, task of new EU emissary

At the head of Kosovo- Serbia will now be the chief diplomat of the European Union, Kaya Kallas, and its elected Special Representative for the process, Danish Peter Sorensen. The latter's main task will be to implement the Ohrid Agreement without being distracted with other regional issues of the Western Balkans as his predecessor Miroslav Lajcak had on his mandate.

The European Union Council yesterday formalised Denmark's diplomat, Peter Sorensen, in office as Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

His task will be to contribute to the comprehensive normalisation of relations between the two neighbours, but especially the focus should be on implementing the Ohrid Agreement and its annex a task that was not achieved so far since the parties had mutual accusations of failure to comply.

The Council today named Mr. Peter Sérensen Special Representative of the EU for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue. The tasks of the new EU Special Representative will be to facilitate dialogue that will contribute to a comprehensive normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo*, and in particular in implementing the Road Agreement towards Normalisation and its Implementation Annex adopted in February and Mars 2023”, the Council announced.

Danez receives his duties on February 1st of this year with an initial mandate of 13 months. However, he and his chief Kallas will have to wait a little while to start with their work as they came to the leadership's helm when in Kosovo there is general elections, while in Serbia continuing anti-power protests prompted by the incident, where 15 people died from the collapse of a concrete shelter at a railway station in Novi Sad.

The council described Sorensen as a Danish diplomat with extensive experience, including the Western Balkan region.

“He served from 2011-2014 as the Special Representative of the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has also held positions as ambassador and chief of the EU delegation to Skopje and chief of the delegation in Geneva. In the latter, Mr. Sérensen represented the EU at the United Nations Organisation in Geneva, including as representatives of the Union at the UN Human Rights Council”, the Council shared part of the new emissary's biography.

It seems Sorensen will have a more serious burden to promote the parties in implementing the Ohrid Agreement when Kosovo and Serbia historically, since dialogue in 2011, the biggest challenge is to meet pledges.

In March of this year it takes two years since the Ohrid Agreement was announced enthusiastically that Kosovo and Serbia took a major step towards final normalisation of relations.

The announcement was made in addition to the warning that the bloc will carefully assess who implements the agreement of who does not”, while implementation of it became a condition for EU membership for both sides.

However, initial enthusiasm was replaced with disappointment as complaints from the European Union increased that the parties have made almost irrefutable progress to implement the agreement from which Kosovo targeted recognition de facto from Serbia, while Serbia and the Association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo.

Meetings in Brussels that followed the agreement were focused on dealing with successive crises that took place in the country's north, while the terrorist attack on Banjska interrupted trilateral meetings between Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq. Meanwhile, the EU repeatedly called on it to come out of this vicious circle to focus on implementation.

So far, Kallas had waited at separate meetings in Brussels Prime Minister Kurti and Serbian President Vuciq. The meetings were more informative and were not within dialogue. /Express/