Lajcak: EU-U.S. Unity On Western Balkans Restored

Miroslav Lajcak (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The exchange of territory between Serbia and Kosovo would be "very dangerous," EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak told the French paper Le Monde, and explained that the dialogue was stopped because of the elections in Kosovo, but that the European Union was pleased with the fact that the crucial unity with the U.S. in policies towards the Western Balkans had been restored.

"Nothing is over until it is over," Lajcak said regarding the goal of reaching a comprehensive agreement between Belgrade and Pristina in the dialogue, and stressed that the people in charge of the Balkans in the administration of U.S. President Joseph Biden were "feeling historically responsible because of their country's political and human engagement in the region."

Asked about what Serbia could expect when the normalization of relations with Pristina is completet, Lajcak answered that "both Serbia and Kosovo know that normalization is the precondition, and the EU has clearly promised them integration if the standards are fulfilled and the necessary reforms carried out."

Lajcak added that the EU was persevering in the policy of enlargement, but that "one should not believe that it would come automatically; the countries of the Western Balkans have to convince the EU members with reforms."