BRUSSELS – Special Envoy of the European Union for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue might be appointed after the hearing of the nominee for High Representative Josep Borrell in the European Parliament, Radio Free Europe reports.
According to RFE’s diplomatic sources, certain principles about the future Envoy have already been established. He or she should at minimum be (either current or former) minister of foreign affairs with relevant knowledge of the region and credibility both in Belgrade and Pristina, as well as Brussels and Washington.
Borrell’s hearing at the European Parliament is scheduled for 7 October. Previously, High Representative of the European Union for High Affairs and Security Policy was directly in charge of mediating the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina ever since the EU took over the responsibility of the process from the United Nations in 2010.
High Representative Federica Mogherini was criticized by some, including former MEP Eduard Kukan, for the way she has handled the process since 2014. There has been no high level meeting in the context of the dialogue since September 2018.
United States appointed their own Special Representative for the Western Balkans Matthew Palmer last month. He stressed that the normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is high on his agenda.