TIRANA, November 10 – Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic traveled to Paris for two days of negotiations on Thursday to discuss a proposal that an EU official described as the latest push by the bloc to resolve a dispute that has simmered since Yugoslavia’s bloody breakup, said Bloomberg.
The proposal, part of which was leaked by the Brussels-based Euractiv website on Wednesday, calls for Serbia and Kosovo to develop “good neighborly relations with each other based on equal rights,” bound by the common goal to join the EU. The draft would also help Kosovo join international bodies and the establishment of diplomatic missions in each others’ capitals.
Each Balkan leader were to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Paris separately on Thursday and Friday, according to the EU official, who is close to the talks but spoke on the condition of anonymity because of their sensitivity.
“I am prepared, and always interested, for dialogue,” Kurti said on Facebook, acknowledging the existence of the EU’s proposal. He said he was ready to discuss the “complete normalization of relations between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia, with mutual recognition at the center.”
Officials from Serbia and Kosovo and the EU didn’t respond to requests from Bloomberg on details of the proposal. The bloc has made normalizing ties a condition for either of the Balkan states to achieve membership.
In the meantime a joint communique of state and government institutions of Kosovo announced on the meeting of President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti with the President of France, Emanuel Macron, late on Thursday evening.
President Osmani and Prime Minister Kurti discussed with President Macron the deepening of bilateral relations between the two countries, the dynamism of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, as well as the latest developments in Kosovo, the region and Europe, said RTK.
“Regarding the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, President Osmani and Prime Minister Kurti thanked President Macron for the commitment of France, in cooperation with Germany, for dynamizing this process,” said the joint communique. /Argumentum.al
