Novosti: Lajcak and Germans Drafting Statute for Community of Serb Municipalities

Miroslav Lajcak

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) foundation from Germany and the European Institute for Peace have been tasked with drafting a Statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo, the Vecernje Novosti daily has reported. It was added that said organizations have been working on the document for months, and that a revised draft – incorporating the comments of Serb and Albanian NGOs from Kosovo – will be submitted to Miroslav Lajcak, the EU’s special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

Citing diplomatic sources, the paper claims that a sit-down was organized to this end in Belgrade on Sept. 27, gathering the representatives of Serb and Albanian NGOs, the international missions in Kosovo and German diplomats.

The Novosti maintains that the drafted document “is not intended for publication.” Instead, once the comments of the NGOs have been incorporated, “it will be used as part of the negotiations process,” wherein the governments of Serbia, Kosovo and an unnamed third country will be asked to offer their opinions.

Said third country is speculated to be Germany, which is now directly involved in the dialogue via the FES foundation. Furthermore, it was said at the Sept. 27 gathering that official Berlin is “open to suggestions,” the Novosti reports.