Prishtina, 12 March 2011
Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri, head of the delegation of the Republic of Kosovo for the dialogue on practical issues with the Republic of Serbia, returned from Brussels today following the first meeting with the Serbian delegation.
In a press conference at the “Adem Jashari” International Airport in Prishtina, Mrs. Edita Tahiri said that no agreement was reached in the first round of the dialogue; however, she pointed out that there has been progress in the topics discussed.
“The first meeting between the two states, the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia held on 8 and 9 March in Brussels, I can say, was of major importance, because Kosovo carried out an international obligation deriving from the UN General Assembly’s Resolution, of date 9 September 2010,” said Mrs. Tahiri adding that this dialogue with the Serbian party has marked some interesting progress. Both parties were quite constructive in their efforts to bring forth solutions to the issues already known. There has been discussion on the civil registry and cadastre registries, documents that were taken away from Kosovo during the occupation times, then on CEFTA, namely for all CEFTA members to be equal and constructive participants and not hinder each other in various forms.
Mrs. Tahiri went on to say that there was also discussion on customs seals at the two border crossing points between Kosovo and Serbia, 1 and 31, which are facing difficulties because of various obstacles set by Serbia through the intrusion of its illegal parallel structures. On all these issues, during the two days of talks we gave our ideas for solutions and the other party came up with their ideas.
“As a conclusion, I can say that we have not reached any agreement on any of these issues, however, I can state that there has been progress,” said Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri. The dialogue will continue. Our interest is that this dialogue is not endless, but to end at some optimal time, because its objectives are to improve the lives of the people in both countries, in Kosovo and Serbia. This dialogue is in the service of regional cooperation, and what’s more important it is expected to contribute to the acceleration of Kosovo’s integration into the European Union and Serbia too wants the same.
Mrs. Tahiri said that the European Union and United States of America were the third party in these talks.
Last modified: July 31, 2022