Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced on Friday 31 January, that he intends to appoint an EU representative for the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo.
“We have to engage stronger than in the past, stronger than in the last months, in facilitating these conversations. That is why I talked with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, about the convenience of nominating an European Union representative, who can help me in order to facilitate these conversations”, he explained at a press briefing alongside Vučić. Borrell explained that he wanted to follow the negotiations closely, but that he did not have the time to do the day-to-day work to promote an agreement, which is what the Representative would be doing.
The High Representative also believed that the dialogue should start “as soon as there is a government in Kosovo”. The Serbian President made the lifting of tariffs against Serbian products a precondition for dialogue to resume. This was also a precondition for the previous Commission.
Vučić felt that it was necessary to try to compromise, but pointed out that what he might have proposed a few months ago could not be proposed now. He also noted that it had been 2,400 days since the Serbian community associations had been established. These associations are included in the agreement of 19 April 2013 (see EUROPE 10831/18).
However, the Serbian President acknowledged that, if a solution is not found with Kosovo, “Serbia's European perspective would be uncertain”. He also hoped that his country would become the 28th member state of the EU. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)