The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, met on Thursday 16 July in Brussels for their second high-level meeting of the EU-facilitated Dialogue in less than a week, after a 20-month break.
At the end of the meeting, the EU Special Representative, Miroslav Lajčák, said that the meeting had focused on two issues: missing or displaced persons and economic cooperation.
The issue of missing or displaced persons is “a very symbolic issue in the context of reconciliation, and it is a very real issue for the families who live with uncertainty for decades” explained Mr Lajčák, adding that it was essential to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross to resolve the remaining cases and close the file. According to the Government of Kosovo's Commission on Missing Persons, 1,650 people are still reported missing from the 1998-99 war.
The EU Special Representative also noted that economic cooperation was one of the cornerstones of the Union. According to him, intensifying this cooperation “means making use of the full economic potential of Kosovo and Serbia, and it means creating jobs and improving living standards for the people”. The Dialogue was blocked for almost two years due to the imposition of tariffs on Serbian and Bosnian products.
According to Mr Vučić, the discussions were not easy, but progress was made on both topics.
Mr Hoti, for his part, observed that dialogue was “the only alternative”. “Mutual recognition and normalisation of relations are the basic principles and ultimate goal of this process”, he added.
Work will now continue at the technical level “as of next week”, according to Lajčák, who announced a new meeting at senior management level in Brussels in early September. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)