EU says it is in communication with the US about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, but does not indicate at what level

The European Union says it is in communication with the US regarding the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process, but does not provide details on the level at which this communication is taking place.

EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Anitta Hipper, said briefly that Brussels is in contact with Washington.

"We cooperate with all our partners, including the US, regarding the dialogue process," she said at a press conference on March 25.03.2025, XNUMX, adding that she has nothing more to share on this issue.

Hipper said how the EU is continuing its commitment.

"When it comes to Dialogue, we are committed to seeing that the path to the EU for both sides passes through facilitated dialogue," Hipper added.

While the EU is mediating the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, the US has been an influential partner, providing diplomatic support and encouraging both sides to engage in constructive negotiations.

The new EU Envoy for Dialogue, Danish Peter Sorensen, was in Kosovo last week to meet with Prime Minister Albin Kurti, President Vjosa Osmani and Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi. During the last week of March, he is in Serbia, where he has held meetings with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

Vučić, after the meeting, said in an Instagram post that his first meeting with Sorensen about the dialogue was "open and fair." He said that he had briefed Sorensen, who had initially visited Kosovo, "about the problems that Serbs face" there.

"I expressed particular concern about the difficult position in which Serbs are located due to the numerous escalating, unilateral and violent movements of Pristina," Vučić said.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, during her meeting with Sorensen in Kosovo, had given her remarks on the EU draft for the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities. She said that the draft statute of the Association “is not in line with the Constitution of Kosovo, nor with EU or Council of Europe standards.”

On the other hand, after the meeting, Prime Minister Albin Kurti stressed the importance of the full and unconditional implementation of the Basic Agreement and the Ohrid Annex.

The Prime Minister's Office announced that during the meeting, Kurti reminded Sorensen of the paramilitary attack in Banjska in September 2023 and the terrorist attack in Ibër-Lepenc in November last year, underlining that Milan Radoići and his group are still at large in Serbia.

The Kosovo government expects that with the new EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process, Peter Sorensen, this process will return to the right track and focus on the path forward towards the normalization of relations and increase accountability "towards the blocking party as we already have an agreement, the Basic Agreement, and the Ohrid Implementing Annex."

Përparim Kryeziu, Government spokesperson, on the anniversary of the Ohrid Agreement said that on the one hand, these agreements must be implemented in their entirety, ensuring within the process the equality of the parties, a fair and impartial approach even from the mediator, and on the other hand, they must work on the final agreement that has mutual recognition and legal acceptance at its core.

Regarding the progress of the dialogue, in general, in the last four years, Kryeziu said that with the Kurti government, Kosovo has been represented worthily by showing constructiveness and readiness for normalization and building good neighborly relations. On the other hand, he said that Serbia has continued with a destructive approach in this process, without the will and readiness for cooperation, "until this and the actions/inactions undertaken by them have revealed Serbia's true intentions."

"On the other hand, our commitment and dedication to the process has been unwavering, and despite Serbia's resistance, issues such as non-payment of electricity in the north of the country and illegal license plates have already been resolved. For the first time, electricity is being paid for in the four municipalities in the north, while illegal license plates are no longer circulating in our territory," Kryeziu told KALLXO.com.

The EU envoy, Peter Sorensen, who took office in February 2025, happened to be in Kosovo just in time for the anniversary of this Agreement.

After the meetings, the EU's envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue was tight-lipped. He did not hold a press conference to reveal what they discussed, but in a brief statement to the media he called it "a good start," indicating that the conversation was about how the process can continue and move forward.

"Dialogue is about ensuring that there are meetings. Whether this means compromises or not is up to the parties to determine," he said in a statement to the media.

With the Ohrid agreement, Kosovo undertook to implement the agreements reached earlier, including the one that foresees the creation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, while Serbia would not oppose Kosovo's membership in any international organization. And as a "reward", the EU had undertaken to organize a donors' conference within 150 days, to create a package of investments and financial assistance for Kosovo and Serbia.

Regarding the non-implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, the portal published an interview with retired professor of International Relations, formerly at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University and senior fellow at the World Policy Institute, Alon Ben-Meir, who blamed the two states, the two leaders, and the European Union for the failure of the dialogue.

On 18.03. 2025, two years will be marked since in Ohrid, North Macedonia, the Kosovo Prime Minister and the Serbian President agreed to implement the Annex to the Basic Agreement, which was reached in Brussels, in the last days of February 2023.

The two leaders agreed that Kosovo and Serbia would develop normal good-neighborly relations with each other and, among other things, recognize each other's relevant documents and national symbols – including passports, diplomas, vehicle license plates and customs stamps.

The 11-Article Agreement, among other things, also provides for a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while requiring Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous Agreements reached during the Dialogue.

Before Peter Sorensen was appointed, the Emissary for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue was the Slovak Miroslav Lajcak. During Lajcak's nearly five-year mandate, Kosovo and Serbia have reached an agreement on the path towards normalizing relations.

The EU has accused Kosovo and Serbia of failing to start implementing the pact – saying it would affect the two countries’ path towards European integration. Kosovo and Serbia have been in EU-brokered talks to normalise relations since 2011.

This process was initially initiated on technical issues, only to move to a political level. However, the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue has been stalled in recent years. /Kallxo.com/