Kosovo PM Meets EU Leaders in Brussels
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, held meetings with European leaders, on the side-lines of an EU summit in Brussels, but there is still no information about their progress.
Similar meetings are currently being held by the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
According to the EU spokesman, Peter Stano, the meetings are a continuation of the process that began last weekend, when the so-called "big five" of Western envoys visited Pristina and Belgrade.
"The idea is that these meetings take place on the margins of the EU summit, in support of the return to dialogue. The message of the EU is that we expect both sides, Serbia and Kosovo, to return immediately and without obstacles to the obligations arising from the dialogue, to work immediately to reduce tensions and restart the dialogue", said Stano.
Kurti and Vucic are being received separately by the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, and the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
The head of EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell, as well as the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, will be present at the meetings.
Stano said that any meeting between Kurti and Vucic, for now, is not planned.
But some diplomatic sources in Brussels said their joint meeting would depend on meeting European leaders.
The representatives of the latter are part of the "big five" that visited Pristina and Belgrade on October 21 and presented a plan for the normalization of relations.
Stano confirmed that the plan contains a "modern European proposal" for the statute of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, while, according to EU sources, it asks Serbia to confirm its support for the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement for the normalization of relations.
The Government of Kosovo said that Kurti has agreed that this plan is "the framework for continuing further discussions with the allied countries".
Vucic, on the other hand, said that Serbia is ready to talk about the plan, but admitted that "the planned meetings will not be easy".