EU: Another Mogherini-Vucic-Thaci meeting on July 18th. Pristina: BG declined a round of technical dialogue

Federica Mogherini, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, will meet next week, on the 18th July, President Hashim Thaci of Kosovo and President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia, in the context of the continuation of her facilitation of the EU-facilitated dialogue.

Mogherini will with the presidents review the progress in discussions on the comprehensive normalisation agreement so far and plan the next steps and meetings, in order to ensure the work between both sides continues at an intensified pace – it was stated by the EU.

The last high-level political meeting was held on June 24th. It was then agreed that the talks would be intensified, while the meeting was assessed as difficult with „a positive tone“.

The Serbian President then asked – “ What if somebody starts occupying North Kosovo during the summer?; Would the answer be to respond with force or another (Operation) Storm? „, adding: „At least we have provided peace, so no one will be killed. I think that is an enormous and important achievement.”

Only two days ago, however, the head of the Kosovo Office, Marko Djuric, warned of halting the dialogue over the arrest of five Serbs suspected of threatening Serb KSF members to leave this organisation. He demanded that the detainees be released by the end of the same day, after which the arrested persons were released.

The Kosovo technical delegation chief, Avni Arifi, told Pristina-based media that Belgrade declined an invitation to take part in a new round of dialogue, scheduled for July 13th, focusing on an energy agreement.

He said that this decision is „testimony and proof that Serbia insists on blocking the implementation of the Brussels Energy Agreement at all costs,“ adding that he did not know the reason for this decision, stating also that the Serbian side „remains detrimental to the dialogue“.

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Vucic: What if somebody starts occupying North Kosovo during the summer? At least we have provided peace, so no one will be killed. Thaci: Difficult meeting, positive tone