The Kosovar deputy prime minister, Besnik Bislimi, and the head of the Serbian office for Kosovo, Petar Petković, held a meeting in Brussels on Thursday 4 April to try to break the deadlock over the issue of Pristina’s decision to ban transactions in Serbian dinars in the country (see EUROPE 13382/24).
Arbitrated by the European Union's special representative for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajčák, the discussions did not produce any results, even though, according to the European diplomat, “certain gaps between the proposals of the two parties” had been “closed”.
“I intend to continue our discussions in the near future on the basis of the EU’s compromise ideas”, he added, without specifying a date.
This meeting is the second in less than two weeks, previous exchanges having taken place between negotiators from the two Balkan states on 25 March (see EUROPE 13379/21). Following this meeting, the European Union’s special representative for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina expressed the hope of reaching a solution on 4 April.
The decision by the Kosovar Central Bank to ban transactions in Serbian dinars should have taken effect on 1 February. The Commission, fearing the impact of the decision on Serbian nationals in the country, had called on Priština to introduce a transitional period. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)