BELGRADE – EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajčák said Brussels was waiting for a “far-reaching decision” from Serbian President Aleksandar Vućić on the Kosovo issue, but that Serbian President rightly wondered whether the EU offered a European perspective in return. , FoNet reports.
“The most difficult thing was to restart the dialogue,” Lajčák told the Austrian newspaper. Wiener Zeitungand reiterated that the objective was a binding global agreement, Deutsche Welle reports.
“We already have a proposed text on exiled and missing people, as well as on economic cooperation. But here too the principle applies that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. We are currently discussing very complex topics, including financial claims and property rights,” Lajčák said.
He raised the issue of the Community of Serbian Municipalities which, as he recalled, had already been agreed in the agreements of 2013 and 2015, which were not implemented.
“This is a very sensitive topic which has also been addressed by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo – this opinion must be taken into account. But I ask those who say that now is not the time for this: when, if not now? Well, you signed the agreement yourself,” Lajčák said.
The Slovak diplomat emphasizes that the Balkan countries expect a European perspective and that the EU expects them to work seriously on it.
“We can blame each other, but that doesn’t benefit anyone,” emphasizes Lajčák.
Stating that the European Commission’s progress reports clearly show that “reform momentum has been lost” in the region, Lajčák believes that “Western Balkan countries must clearly understand that EU membership requires a lot work and no one gets buy-in. just like that”.
“During the last European Commission, we lost our political vision, technical details dominated. This was also felt in the Western Balkan countries. But negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania are expected to begin soon, and a new methodology has been introduced in the enlargement negotiations. The political vision is there again. » Lajčák added.
