The fact that Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar came to Kosovo together, and will be traveling to Belgrade tomorrow, is an attempt to take the EU and the US efforts on the success of the dialogue seriously, with old issues being on the agenda, analysts in Pristina claim. On the other hand, an analyst from Belgrade, Dusan Milenkovic, states that new problems have arisen – which Lajcak and Escobar are discussing with the Kosovan leadership and other representatives, noting that their focus lies on convincing Pristina. Both Pristina and Belgrade analysts agree on one thing – that the dialogue is deadlocked.
The EU and US envoys for the Belgrade and Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, and Gabriel Escobar, are currently on the second day of their Kosovo tour. After meeting with the Kosovo leadership yesterday, they met today with opposition representatives. The duo is also set to meet with civil society representatives. They emphasized their support for the dialogue, as well as a commitment to resolving the issue of the missing in separate posts on social networks following yesterday’s meetings.
Kushtrim Kolliqi from Integra welcomed the joint arrival of the US-European duo.
According to him, the key message of the visit is “cohesion and understanding between the two most important international parties.”
“I have a feeling that they organized this visit as a joint one in order to make it seem more serious, and that is a positive thing,“ Kolliqi told KoSSev.
This Pristina analyst stressed that what the process needs is “seriousness,” bearing in mind that the dialogue has been „deadlocked for quite some time.“
When asked whether he was acquainted with the topics discussed during yesterday’s and today’s meetings, Kolliqi replied that he assumes that „old and unresolved requests“ were one of the topics.
“It is a matter of restarting the dialogue at a high political level, which we have not had for a long time. If they succeed in doing so, it will be the greatest achievement,“ he emphasized.
In the midst of Lajcak and Escobar’s tour of Kosovo, as well as ahead of their visit to Belgrade, Dusan Milenkovic from the Center for Social Dialogue and Regional Initiative, says that their visit this time is aimed primarily at Pristina. Milenkovic also shares Kolliqi’s belief that the dialogue is deadlocked.
„The purpose of their visit is to talk to the Pristina side about moving some things from the deadlock,“ Milenkovic said in a statement for KoSSev.
Recent issues, such as the (non)holding of the referendum and the announcement by the Kosovan authorities that voting in the Serbian elections on April 3rd will not be allowed in Kosovo are just another point in a series that the Pristina authorities have problematized, Milenkovic warns.
„I believe they are trying to persuade Kurti to allow the elections to take place in Kosovo as they have been held so far, and this is where the focus of this EU-US due lies,“ he added.
Speaking of Belgrade, Milenkovic does not expect “any kind of significant shift” in the Serbian capital due to the problems that the Serbian government is facing at the moment – ahead of the elections, the Rio Tinto issue, energy crisis, but also the „partly bad result“ achieved in the recently held referendum.
„I don’t see what they could ask Vucic to do differently in this situation. What I think is certain is that Lajcak and Escobar would like to see and expect is the agreement on license plates, the transitional regime of which is coming to an end soon, after six months – to achieve some result there,“ Milenkovic concluded.
The Kosovo government and the opposition are united in their belief that the dialogue must end with mutual recognition with Serbia.
Kosovan President Vjosa Osmani reiterated that Serbia is the one blocking the dialogue and that it has a „long list of obligations“ it has not fulfilled within that dialogue.
The former Kosovan Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj reiterated his earlier position on the importance of the current role of the US in the dialogue.
The former head of the negotiating team Edita Tahiri, while noting the importance of the joint arrival of EU and US representatives, called on the Kosovo government to ask the EU to use more explicit vocabulary towards mutual recognition of Serbia and Kosovo as a result of dialogue, as the US has been doing – according to Tahiri.
Srpska Lista has also met the duo. The delegation pointed out Pristina’s obligations on the Association of Kosovo Serbian majority Municipalities.
„The Brussels Agreement is clear and that the Serbian people oppose Pristina’s intentions to reduce its obligations regarding the competences of the Association, but also other obligations from the agreements reached, such as justice, energy, diplomas and visits“, Srpska lista chief Goran Rakic pointed out.
Srpska lista reported in its press release also that they requested that the security of Serbs and their property, as well as the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church be strengthened as soon as possible.
At the same time, the international community was asked to make efforts and prevent unilateral moves by Pristina that endanger security, peace and coexistence in this area.
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