BRUSSELS – Discussions on the normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina ties – which ended on Thursday with the initialling of plans to build improved integrated crossings at the administrative line with Kosovo – resumed in Brussels early Friday under the auspices of the European Union.
As opposed to Thursday, when the two delegations were in direct discussions in the European External Action Service building in Brussels, Friday’s discussions are being held in bilateral format, which means that the teams will hold separate meetings with European Commission (EC) experts.
The dialogue opened early in the morning with a meeting between Belgrade’s expert team and EC officials that focused on phytosanitary inspection at the crossings, and is set to continue later in the day with bilateral discussions on Chapter 35 of the negotiation process, which is related to Kosovo.
In the discussions, the Belgrade delegation will be led by Marko Djuric, the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija, who arrived in Brussels late Thursday.
The objective of the dialogue with the EC experts is to clarify the details on opening the chapter, which has been slated by the EU as one of the first to be opened and one of the last to be closed in the process of Serbia’s EU accession.
Chapter 35 addresses miscellaneous issues, but in Serbia’s case, it will also include monitoring the process of the normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina and the implementation of agreements reached.
