The prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa, will meet in Brussels on February 9th to continue negotiations between the two countries after a break in talks that lasted several months. The precise topics of discussion are still unknown, but the participants will certainly cover implementation of the Brussels Agreement and its effects on the two countries.
The resumption of the talks with Pristina is especially important for Belgrade because the dialogue is a key point in the continuation of Serbia’s EU integration.
Serbia expects that after the resumption of the negotiations with Pristina, EU officials will allow the country to officially open negotiation chapters.
“The continuation of European integration depends on respecting and implementing the Brussels Agreement. I hope that will be resolved thoroughly with the resumption of the talks,” Tanja Miscevic, head of the Serbian negotiating team in the accession talks with the EU, told SETimes.
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said he has great expectations for the February 9th meeting.”That will be the first meeting in the new format, the first meeting of the new prime ministers, but also the first led by [EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica] Mogherini instead of [former EU foreign affairs chief Catherine] Ashton. A part of the format has been added, hence now the talks will be ‘prime minister plus one,'” said Dacic.
Dacic said he will accompany Vucic to the February 9th meeting, and later other representatives will attend based on the discussion topics. He added that it was still unknown what legal agreement will come out of the negotiations.
“There is no consensus and agreement in the EU on the matter of Kosovo. Why should Serbia think about what that means now, when the phrasing used is ‘to be completely open,’ which doesn’t mean anything? Why should we deal with something not even the EU knows the meaning of?” Dacic said. He said that Serbia is aiming for a long-term dialogue.
“There is also the UN, because without an agreement with Serbia, there can be no solution that is related to the UN. It is important to Serbia that there are still many countries that have not recognised Kosovo’s independence, and we want to give them special attention,” he said.
Kosovo authorities said that despite the change in prime minister after the June elections, Pristina’s approach to the dialogue will remain the same.
Mustafa and his deputy Hashim Thaci will attend the first meeting in Brussels. Edita Tahiri, minister without portfolio in charge of the dialogue, said that Pristina will ask for an assessment of the level of implemented agreements reached earlier, and then will continue with new topics.
“The topics for the first meeting will be the ones that remained unfinished from the previous period. Judiciary, the cessation of paramilitary structures, civil protection, creation of the Association of the Serb dominated municipalities, then telecom, electricity, the removal of the barricade over Ibar River in Mitrovica, are the topics to be discussed,” Tahiri said.
Dejan Vuk Stankovic, a sociologist and political analyst, said that Belgrade and Pristina are going to face challenges.
“It looks like Pristina is growing increasingly impatient to finalise its independence. For that, it needs admission to international institutions, and that will be the main stumbling block,” Stankovic told SETimes.
