Brussels, 04/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 2 February, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton confirmed that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and his Kosovan counterpart, Atifete Jahjaga, were going to meet for the first time on Wednesday 6 February in Brussels, after Nikolic posted the information on his Twitter account the previous day. “High Representative Catherine Ashton has invited to Brussels President Nikolic and President Jahjaga for meetings on 6 February. The meetings take place in the context of the normalisation of relations between the two sides”, Ashton's spokesperson stated in a press release. Ashton is due to meet each president individually first, then a joint meeting is due to follow.
This meeting is the first between the Serbian and Kosovan presidents since Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 - independence which Serbia does not recognise.
In the European Parliament on 23 January, the Serbian minister for European integration, Suzana Grubjesic, had spoken of her country's intention to organise such a meeting, saying that it would enable a contribution to the dialogue between the prime ministers of the two countries (see EUROPE 10771). Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovan Prime Minister Hashim Thaci have met under the auspices of the EU four times since October 2012 to work on the normalisation of relations between Pristina and Belgrade. The nature of these relations has an impact - inter alia - on the progress of the two countries on the road to European integration. (CG/transl.fl)