At a recent meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs and the economy of the region, held in Belgrade, was not officially agreed that next meeting will be held in Pristina, was said from the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn. According to them, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj only proposed that the next meeting could be held in Pristina, but that has not yet been decided.
Representatives of the Government of Serbia at the moment, as they say, do not have information about the upcoming meeting of ministers from the region, or if it will be held in Pristina (where should come Serbian Ministers Ivica Dacic and Zeljko Sertic). Our source from the government, however, unofficially said that the next meeting will probably be held in the first quarter of next year.
“Although the original idea was that the regional meetings, held in Berlin and Belgrade, will be continued in Kosovo until the end of the year, it is not certain, especially because the government of Kosovo has not yet been formed. The process of matching the free terms of regional ministers is on-going, so that the meeting can be expected early next year,” was said from the Serbian government.
The first regional meeting of Ministers was held in Berlin and was organized by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. The second meeting was held in October in Belgrade and it was assessed as historic. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the economies of the Western Balkans and senior officials of the European Commission met then in Belgrade with the aim to discuss programs that could spur economic growth and attract private investment in the region.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo, European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen, EU Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fule, special envoy of the Italian presidency of the EU, Andrea Orizio, as well Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Goran Svilanovic. At the meeting, organized in Belgrade hotel “Metropol”, for the first time participated the ministers in the government of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj and Fadil Ismaili. That was not the first visit of an official from Pristina. At the meeting organized by the Forum for Ethnic Relations, in the summer 2013, participated Kosovo Minister, Vlora Citaku.
Serbian Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, explained the presence of Pristina officials in October, at a regional conference in Belgrade, as presence under Gimnih format. It is a form that defines the participation of Pristina in regional forums, without special national representation. Dacic announced that next meeting will be in Pristina, when it constitutes a new government.
