Luxembourg/Brussels, 22/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton is to continue to negotiate with Iran on its nuclear programme until an agreement is found, but she will not continue the EU-facilitated dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.
While she has been “asked to continue until it is finished” for Iran, Ashton said on Monday 20 October that there was going to be another high representative who, she was “sure”, was going “to continue the work with Belgrade and Pristina”.
On 21 October, Serbia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic was full of praise for Ashton. At the end of a farewell meeting, he said that “Ashton was an engine” and that the ministers found her stimulating in the dialogue. He added that over his 20 years of political experience and crises in the regions, Ashton was the “only objective negotiator” that he had known. He said that in leading the dialogue, Ashton had helped his country to start on the path for EU accession.
Ashton is due to meet Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in Brussels on Thursday 23 October. The political dialogue discussions are currently on stand by while awaiting the formation of a new government in Kosovo. (CG)