High Representative of the European Union, Federica Mogherini on Thursday will be in Pristina and on Friday in Belgrade. She will encourage dialogue between the two sides in a meeting with the heads of government of Serbia and Kosovo, and see how to overcome the stalemate over the statute of the Association/Community of Serbian municipalities.
This was told to BETA by European diplomatic sources in Brussels, in her official statement on the visit, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU, Mogherini said she would “discuss the next steps of Serbia and Kosovo on their European path.”
Mogherini also noted that, during this first visit to Pristina and Belgrade since she assumed the office of High Representative of the EU, she would exchange views “on the implementation of the agreements reached in the dialogue with the good will services of EU with aim to normalize relations” of the two sides.
Mogherini recently emphasized that she attaches great importance to the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, which is at a standstill because of a variety of perspectives from the two sides on what the statute should be of the Association/Community of Serbian municipalities.
Pristina authorities require that the Community/Association of Serbian municipalities to be fully integrated into the Kosovo laws and they interpreted so an Article of the Belgrade-Pristina agreement on the Community as to virtually there would be no executive powers for this institutionally important connection between Serbian municipalities in Kosovo.
Serbian side believes that the executive powers are the essential point of the agreed in the Belgrade-Pristina agreement, and the Kosovo Albanian authorities for now refuse to accept that Serbian municipalities in the Community/Association will receive funds from the Kosovo budget for its competences.
The dispute exists about solutions for the funds that the government in Belgrade provides for the operation of hospitals and schools in the municipalities with the Serbian population in Kosovo.
