European Union officials involved in the facilitation of the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue are carefully following developments in Kosovo and hoping that the pressure on the government to lift import tariff on Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina will soon bear fruit and enable the continuation of dialogue for normalisation of relations, Radio Free Europe in Albanian reports. It quotes sources from the office of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, saying that the moment authorities in Pristina lift the tariff, as early as the next day they would be ready to resume the dialogue through intensive talks which could be held on weekly basis. The unnamed officials admitted that the EU has never drawn a ‘formal connection’ between the tariff and dialogue but said this link nevertheless exists since the Serbian side cannot be convinced to return to the negotiating table for as long as the measure remains in force. The EU therefore is hopeful that the joint EU-U.S. pressure on the government of Kosovo will produce results. They also added that the prospect of fresh elections in Kosovo would be the “worst-case scenario.” “New elections mean new obstacle to dialogue. No one wants this because we are under immense time pressure,” an unnamed source told RFE. To this end, Pristina and Belgrade are being told that now is the right time for an agreement. This warning is also related to EU upcoming elections. “We don’t know what the outcome of European elections will be and who will take over functions relating to the Western Balkans. We can’t be sure if the future EU representatives will be as committed as the current commissioners,” the source said.
EU: Time is now for a Pristina-Belgrade agreement (RFE)
- Published: 5 years ago on 04/02/2019
- By: OSPI-rq
- Last Modified: February 4, 2019 @ 1:28 pm
- Filed Under: Articles from Kosovo media
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