Lajcak Worried Over Situation in Northern Kosovo, EU Expects Normalization of Relations

Miroslav Lajcak (BETAPHOTO/AMIR HAMZAGIC)

EU Special Envoy for the Western Balkans and the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak announced on April 16 that there have recently been some worrisome developments in northern Kosovo and reiterated that the EU expects Kosovo and Serbia to focus on normalizing their mutual relations.

“This week in Brussels was relatively calm for me, which gave me the opportunity to work on documents important for the implementation of the Dialogue agreements, and to delve deeper into the current developments and moods in the region. Unfortunately, some of these developments are concerning, and we expect the parties to be fully focused on normalization of their relations,” Lajcak wrote on Facebook. According to the post, he also spent the past several days notifying various international parties on the progress of the Belgrade-Pristina talks.

“I discussed security issues with [the Commander of] KFOR Major General [Angelo] Ristuccia, including recent incidents at checkpoints. Security was also a focus of my meeting with the Head of EULEX, Ambassador [Lars-Gunnar] Wigemark,” the envoy wrote.

According to Lajcak, he also updated the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Caroline Ziadeh on the status of the dialogue “ahead of her regular briefing of the UN Security Council.”

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani called mayoral elections in four northern Kosovo municipalities with a Serb majority, along with local assembly elections for Leposavic and Zvecan. The elections are scheduled for April 23 and have only exacerbated tensions in Kosovo’s north.