Western Five Envoys to Visit Pristina, Belgrade on Oct. 21 in Bid to Stop Tensions and Rekindle Dialogue

Belgrade (Photo: PrintScreen YouTube)

The envoys of the EU and U.S., as well as French, German and Italian security aides will be visiting Pristina and Belgrade on Oct. 21 for the purpose "of ensuring tangible progress" in the application of the Ohrid agreement and lowering tensions, especially in the wake of the incident in Banjska in north Kosovo, EU spokesman Peter Stano told BETA in Brussels on Oct. 19.

At the same time BETA's European diplomatic sources said that the senior officials of the West's key countries were visiting Pristina and Belgrade with demands that further tensions in Kosovo not only be stopped "but that literally at the same time municipal elections in the north be organized with the participation of Kosovo Serbs and that the implementation of the Brussels agreement on establishing the Community of Serb Municipalities be launched concretely."

Stano told BETA that Miroslav Lajcak, Gabriel Escobar and the French presidential security aide and the aides of the German chancellor and Italian prime minister Emmanuel Bonne, Jens Ploetner and Francesco Talo would be holding talks with Kosovo Premier Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic "with clear expectations that both sides will continue the process of normalizing relations and implementing their commitments without delay and unconditionally."

The Serbian authorities need to do everything to shed light on the background, perpetrators and organizers of the violence in Banjska on Sept. 24, the EU High Representative Josep Borrell's spokesman said. Kurti must see that this was the only way to lessen tensions, stop permanent crises, which were mainly caused and the fault of the premier in Pristina.