The European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, and the Kosovar President, Hashim Thaçi, met on Monday 15 April in Brussels.
Mr Hahn described the meeting as “good”, but at the end of the meeting, communication between the two sides was quite different.
On Twitter, Mr Hahn called for the early resumption of the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade on the normalisation of their relations. This dialogue is suspended due to the imposition, since November, of tariffs by Kosovo on Serbian and Bosnian products (see EUROPE 12226/2).
“It is important that the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo be resumed quickly, also in the interest of regional stability and progress”, he stressed. He said he had reiterated the EU's position that “counter-productive [Kosovar] tariffs” must “at least” be suspended.
For his part, the Kosovar President focused on visa liberalisation for Kosovar citizens. The decision is still pending in the EU Council and should remain so until at least the European elections at the end of May. Thus, Mr Thaçi stressed the “need for strong commitment” in the European institutions and Member States towards Kosovo and for his country's commitment to the “European integration process”. He recalled the “fundamental need for an early decision on visa liberalisation for Kosovo and the decisive next steps to achieve the European agenda”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)