Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met Tuesday evening in Belgrade with European Union (EU) Special Envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak and US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar.
The meeting was also attended by head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emmanuel Giaufret and US Ambassador to Belgrade Christopher Hill.
The officials discussed the current situation in the north of Kosovo, ways to reduce tensions on the ground, implementation of the reached agreements and possibilities for progress in the EU-facilitated dialogue.
President Vucic reiterated Serbia’s full commitment to the dialogue process with Pristina, to reaching compromise and sustainable solutions that are to facilitate a better life and relations between Serbs and Albanians, and underlined that the safety of Serbs in Kosovo is a priority.
He reiterated his insistence on the full implementation of the Brussels agreements, with emphasis on the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), and called on the international community to engage more actively in connection with this Pristina’s obligation.
The EU and US representatives repeated their joint request for an immediate end to tensions and violence on the ground, for the holding of new elections with the participation of Kosovo Serbs and return to dialogue on normalization.
Following the meeting, the Serbian President posted a message on his Instagram profile:
“Since day one, Serbia has been a constructive, consistent and reliable partner in all the processes that would lead to preserving the stability of the entire region. I said it is time for Pristina to finally meet its obligations, above all the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, in line with the Brussels Agreement. I want to believe that the part of the international community that has the greatest influence on Pristina also has mechanisms that can lead to the final realization of the obligations that Pristina accepted and signed over a decade ago,” he wrote.
Lajcak and Escobar previously paid a two-day visit to Pristina where they discussed the situation in Kosovo with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his deputy Besnik Bislimi.
They presented to Kurti a three-point proposal for overcoming the crisis in northern Kosovo, which includes de-escalation of the situation, elections in the north and return to the dialogue to normalize relations.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation in the north and call for immediate de-escalation on the ground, early elections with the participation of Kosovo Serbs and return to Dialogue on normalization,” Lajcak wrote on Twitter following the meeting.
Escobar said the Kosovo authorities need to immediately come forward with a draft law on the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM). They have it, they just don’t want to present it, he said.
