The President of Serbia, Aleksandër Vucic, stated on Thursday that he does not plan to sign anything at the March 18 meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti while NATO calls for both sides to progress.
In a speech addressed to the nation on Thursday afternoon, Vucic said there is still no draft of what the European Union wants in the negotiations for the normalisation of Serbia-Kosovo relations, writes REL.
“We have submitted our proposal, the Albanians theirs. We have not yet received anything from Brussels, and that document does not yet exist”, he said.
Kurti and Vucic, with the mediation of EU officials, will meet on Saturday in Ohrid to discuss implementing an EU plan to normalise relations between them.
In a meeting in Brussels on February 27, they accepted in principle the content of this plan, but Vucic soon backtracked on the verbal agreement in front of a domestic audience.
Also on Thursday, Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mircea Geoana, in a telephone conversation with the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, said he strongly supports the European Union in its efforts to normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
He said it was time for Kosovo and Serbia to make compromises, as he added that NATO’s commitment to the stability of the Western Balkans would continue.
“NATO strongly supports ongoing EU-led diplomatic efforts with Belgrade and Pristina. It is time for both sides to compromise. Our commitment to lasting stability in the Western Balkans, including NATO and KFOR, is strong,” he said.
Kurti was in Strasbourg, where he held several meetings, including one with the Special Envoy of Germany for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, where they discussed the upcoming meeting.
The prime minister said Kosovo remains constructive regarding the agreement to fully normalise relations between Pristina and Belgrade.
“Before the next high-level meeting in Ohrid, I spoke with Germany’s special envoy Manuel Sarrazin. We continue to be constructive, creative and committed to open and substantive dialogue towards an agreement on the full normalisation of relations. I thanked him for his role and continuous support”, Kurti tweeted.
Kurti also met with the Committee for Foreign Affairs chairman in the European Parliament, MEP David McAllister, where they discussed Kosovo’s December 2022 EU membership application.
“Kosovo’s application for membership in the European Union, apart from an early orientation and goal, also came as a result of progress in the country, which was also recognised by the EU Report on the country. In the meeting, it was discussed precisely about Kosovo’s application and the way forward, and about the finalisation of the visa liberalisation process for the citizens of the Republic”, a government statement reads.
Source: euractiv.com
