Meeting in Brussels canceled – negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina are at an impasse
Today's meeting of the delegations of Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels has been postponed indefinitely, according to the official version, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the real reason for the halt in negotiations was Pristina's reluctance to discuss the creation of a Commonwealth of Serbian Municipalities, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
The EU official at the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak, said that the meeting of the delegations of Kosovo and Serbia, which was supposed to take place today in Brussels, has been postponed indefinitely due to the situation created by the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same time, the European curator of the process hastened to say that the issue of the Commonwealth of Serbian Municipalities, the creation of which the parties agreed on back in 2013, is not on the agenda, since “neither side is ready to discuss this issue.”
“As for this agreement, it is closed and is not discussed as such,” the “Prime Minister” of the region, Avdullah Hoti, commented on the problem to Kosovo journalists. “I will ensure that the dialogue process continues, and if it does not start, it is not our fault.”
The words of the head of the separatist government provoked a sharp response from the head of the Serbian delegation in Brussels, head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric.
“Rather than defending Pristina’s reluctance to fulfill its obligations to the media with the arguments of preschoolers, it should quickly take steps to create the Commonwealth of Serbian Municipalities after a seven-year delay,” said the Serbian negotiator. “The issue of the Commonwealth of Serbian Municipalities will be closed when it is formed in accordance with the agreements reached in Brussels.”
Marko Djuric
According to Djuric, "Serbs cannot trust Albanian political structures if they are systematically denied their rights and create an atmosphere of anti-Serb hysteria."
“This has nothing to do with Hoti’s dreams of “mutual recognition”, but has something to do with the way Pristina respects the agreements it has made and treats Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija,” concluded the head of the Serbian delegation in Brussels.
Brussels meeting cancelled as Belgrade-Pristina talks reach deadlock