Lajcak: Both Sides Understand There's No Alternative to Dialog

Miroslav Lajcak (Photo: Dimitrije Goll)

Miroslav Lajcak, the European Union's special envoy to the Belgrade-Pristina dialog, has said that his main takeaway after visiting Kosovo and Serbia this week was that there was will on both sides to keep talking and an understanding that there was no alternative to dialog.

"Dialog is key to the European path, and to a normal atmosphere between Kosovo and Serbia. To me it's important that none of the stakeholders in Belgrade or Pristina questioned the need for dialog. That is the key message I'm taking away to Brussels," Lajcak told N1 TV late on March 4.

Lajcak, who visited Pristina and Belgrade this week, said Albin Kurti, who won a recent election in Kosovo, told him in a three-hour meeting that he understood the necessity for dialog, was willing to resume it and would spearhead Pristina's delegation to Brussels.

He said the process included talks on a comprehensive agreement on normalization of relations, which should cover all unresolved issues -- both those that have been nominally resolved in deals that are yet to be implemented, or have been implemented partially, and those that have not yet been discussed.

Lajcak said a final deal could be hammered out in a few months, when the political will was in place, but added that the EU could not decide the pace, that there were no deadlines and that the process would continue "at the pace the two sides are ready for."