BELGRADE – The EU Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák said that Brussels expects a “far-reaching decision” from Serbian President Aleksandar Vućić on the Kosovo issue, but that the Serbian president rightly wonders whether the EU offers a European perspective in return, FoNet reports.
“The most difficult part was to restart the dialogue at all,” Lajčák told the Austrian Wiener Zeitung, and reiterated that the goal was a binding comprehensive agreement, Deutsche Welle reports.
“We already have a text proposal on exiled and missing persons, 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 pointed out the issue of the Community of Serb Municipalities, which, as he reminded, had already been agreed in the agreements of 2013 and 2015, which were not implemented.
“This is a very sensitive topic that was also addressed by the Kosovo Constitutional Court – that opinion must be taken into account. But I ask those who say that now is not the time for that – when, if not now? Well, you signed the agreement yourself “, stated Lajčák.
The Slovak diplomat points out that the Balkan countries expect a European perspective, and the EU expects them to work seriously on that.
“We can blame each other, but it does not benefit anyone,” Lajčák points out.
Stating that the European Commission’s progress reports clearly show that “reform momentum has been lost” in the region, Lajčák says that “it must be clear to the countries of the Western Balkans that EU accession requires a lot of work and that no one gets membership just like that”.
“During the last European Commission, we lost our political vision, technical details dominated. This was also felt in the countries of the Western Balkans. But negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania should begin soon, and a new methodology has been introduced in enlargement talks. The political vision is here again,” Lajčák added.