Lajcak: Holding of New Round Is One More Step Towards Agreement

Miroslav Lajcak (Photo: Dimitrije Goll)

The EU's special representative for the dialogue of Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, stated that finance and property were discussed during the new round of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue at the level of experts in Brussels on Oct. 29, and that one more step had been made towards the reaching of an agreement.

"Today we made another step towards a comprehensive normalization agreement by holding a second round of talks on financial claims and property. And it was the first time the new Serbian chief negotiator Petar Petkovic joined our discussions. To be continued soon," Lajcak tweeted.

However, both sides stated after the meeting that there was no progress in the talks. The director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, has stated that "Belgrade and Pristina have completely opposing stances on the issues of property and financial claims" adding that "whichever issue is raised, there can be no progress in the dialogue before the forming of the Community of Serb Municipalities."

The government of Kosovo has also stated that there was no significant approaching of stances.

The dialogue of Kosovo and Serbia was resumed this summer and several meetings of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Premier Avdulah Hoti have been held since. The two sides have not managed to find common ground in the issue of the Community of Serb Municipalities, envisaged in the agreement from 2013. Kosovo viewed this as a closed issue, while Belgrade insists on this issue being reopened at the negotiation table.