US Special Envoy for Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar expressed in Belgrade his belief and hope that Serbs in northern Kosovo will not see any change in their lives on September 1, the date set by the Pristina Government for the beginning of the implementation of reciprocity measures.
Following Thursday evening talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and European Union (EU) Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak, Eskobar told media Friday morning it was his hope that Serbs in northern Kosovo will not become guests in their country, that they will be recognized as legitimate citizens of both Serbia and Kosovo and that they will continue to live peacefully.
That is my expectation and my hope, I am certain that we can achieve this, said Escobar in connection with the dispute between Belgrade and Pristina over Kosovo Government’s measures regarding license plates and ID documents.
The US envoy said that, at each and every meeting with Kosovo officials this week in Pristina, he and Lajcak pointed to the necessity of implementing all the agreements signed in the Brussels dialogue.
All elements of the dialogue must be implemented, including the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities. This is a message we very clearly conveyed to the Kosovo Government this week in Pristina and to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and President Vjosa Osmani during their recent visit to Washington, said the US diplomat.
Escobar said there were no deadlines for the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities but that the US expects this to be discussed very soon within the dialogue.
This does not means that an agreement has to be reached, but that the Community of Serb municipalities needs to be discussed and well as the possible modalities of implementation, he said.
Escobar reiterated that the US is not part of the dialogue but that it strongly supports it because it believes it is a way to achieve a comprehensive agreement on the normalization of relations that will unlock both countries’ European future.
He said the Thursday evening meeting with Vucic was tough because both sides need to agree to many compromises and because participants in the negotiations have very different positions.
