Escobar: EU Calls Meeting of Belgrade, Pristina Chief Negotiators for March 19

Gabriel Escobar (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/EV)

The European Union has called a meeting on the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations at the level of the chief negotiators for March 19, U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar has said in Pristina.

After a meeting with Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti on March 14, the U.S. envoy said he expected the Kosovo government to be flexible at the upcoming meeting.

"He (Kurti) has to admit that our relations now have some challenges, and those challenges are due to the treatment of the Serb minority in Kosovo. That is an urgent humanitarian issue which must be solved immediately. I hope that the government has agreed to be flexible in these talks in the dialogue on Tuesday. In the meantime, I have congratulated the prime minister on the decision he made regarding Decani. It was a difficult decision, but the right one," said Escobar.

Escobar also said he had had a good talk with Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti and reiterated that he hoped the Kosovo government would be flexible in the dialogue on March 19, regarding the Central Bank of Kosovo's ban on the use of the dinar. The envoy said Kurti had promised him he would consider some of his proposals pertaining to that matter.