Following the successful talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti to normalize economic relations, the dialogue between the two leaders continued today in Brussels in talks that were hosted by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and EU Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák, although Serbia is not an EU member. Prior to the bilateral talks,Vucic met with Lajčák and the U.S. Secretary of State’s Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Matthew Palmer.
Afterward Vucic told the press that the talks were not “easy” but that nonetheless he was “not unsatisfied” that there was agreement on the issue of missing persons, internally displaced persons, and economic issues. The issue of Serbian municipalities and negotiations will be continued by the heads of negotiating teams on Sept. 17, while another high-level meeting will be held in Brussels on the 28th. In the follow-up talks, the topic of property and financial demands between the two sides will be coming to the table. Vucic said Pristina will pass a law on the return of displaced persons as requested by the Serbian side. There was also an agreement on abolishing all barriers and enabling the free movement of goods, people, services, and capital. Vucic stressed that this would create a common labor and goods market and that it would contribute to progress for the entire region.
After signing the agreement in Washington on Sept. 4, Vucic informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the results in a telephone conversation yesterday. For his part the Russian Foreign Minister said, “In the context of coordinating their approaches on the Kosovo problem, the Russian side stressed that Russia stays committed to its position in favor of lasting and sustainable settlement on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244.”
The successful talks in Washington and the follow-up talks in Brussels have brought both sides to the negotiating talks and forestalled what could have been a dangerous situation.
