Brussels, 06/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 November, the prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaçi respectively, agreed “on the way forward for completing successfully the electoral process in northern Kosovo”, said High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. “The relevant authorities in Pristina will decide on the specific elements in the process”, added Ashton.
Thaçi announced that fresh local elections will take place in the three polling stations in Mitrovica-North where incidents broke out and ballot boxes were destroyed on Sunday 3 November. “These should take place before 1 December”, the date of the second round nationwide in Kosovo, Thaçi added, although the precise date is not yet known. Thaçi explained that Kosovo was therefore going to back the decision of the central electoral commission and accepted the recommendation of cancelling the ballot in the three polling stations concerned. Once the elections are over, the leaders will be “legitimate”, Thaçi believed.
In Dacic's view, it is “crucial” that the Serbs go to vote in Mitrovica “to establish their authorities”. “It is fundamental to create the association of Serbian municipalities”, he added, as reported by Serb media (our translation). According to Dacic, Ashton will work on a report for the General Affairs Council to decide on the date of the official opening of Serbia's accession negotiations. And while Belgrade has met the criteria required to have a positive decision, there must be no problem in Mitrovica, Dacic warned.
Dacic and Thaçi discussed the next steps in the implementation of the 19 April agreement. They agreed that this implementation “will continue at an accelerated pace in order to complete the implementation as foreseen in the agreement”. They “reaffirmed their commitment to do what needs to be done to complete the task”, said Ashton in a press release.
Dacic and Thaçi could meet again in Brussels on 5 December. (CG/transl.fl)