BRUSSELS – EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák said it was realistic to expect an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia to be reached by March next year, but that it is not important whether that will happen in March or April, what is important is “the quality of that agreement”, N1 reports.
Lajčák stressed that he is a diplomat and that he acknowledges all decisions made by international organizations, including the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision that the declaration of independence of Kosovo did not violate international law. He stated for Klan Kosovo, Pristina television network, that his statements against Kosovo’s independence were made in 2009, a year before the ICJ ruling.
“I am a diplomat and of course I respect international institutions. The most important thing is that I come with an open mind, have no secret agenda and bring my experience to solve unresolved problems between Kosovo and Serbia, ”he said.
Asked about the statements of the caretaker Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti that there is a prepared secret agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, which only needs to be signed, Lajčák says he has never heard of such an agreement.
“I am not going to speculate, that is not what I do. I have not seen such an agreement nor has anyone told me that such an agreement exists. I only work with facts, we have a clear agenda, we have dialogue and we know what our goal is. I leave the speculation to others, I am completely focused on what I have in front of me, that is dialogue, which is my mandate as well,” he said.
He says the EU has made it clear that it expects Kosovo and Serbia to refrain from any activities that could potentially make the situation worse, because “we want to create an atmosphere for a positive result of dialogue and these are our expectations.”