Brussels, November 22 2011
In Brussels on 21 and 22 November, 2011, the seventh round of technical dialogue was held between the Republic of Kosovo and Serbia with the mediation of the European Union and with U.S. presence.
During this round of talks it was discussed on the problems of non-implementation of agreements by Serbia as well as issues of regional cooperation, telecom, energy and the issue of integrated management of the state border between Kosovo and Serbia was opened up.
The delegation of the Republic of Kosovo led by Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri was committed to finding solutions to the issues that were raised in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, national interests and Euro-Atlantic principles. The Kosovo delegation gave priority to the implementation of agreements reached thus far, in which case it confirmed that confirmed that the Kosovo party had completed all implementation obligations, whereas it pointed out Serbia’s failures to fulfill implementation obligations and requested from the EU stronger commitment in this regard. During discussions on the implementation of agreements clear trends were observed from the Serbian party to revise the agreements that were reached, which was explicitly rejected by the Kosovo party. A result that was marked was the achievement of an agreement on the implementation of mutual recognition of university diplomas, in which case the parties agreed that the Association of European Universities conduct the crtification of degrees and for implementation to commence by January 01, 2012. Whereas, regarding the implementation of other agreements, the stance of the Serbian party demonstrated tendencies of avoiding and delaying the implementation process.
Regarding the issue of regional cooperation, the process marked some concrete progress; however the differences between the parties remain considerable mainly due to the unwillingness of Serbia to change its prohibitive approach towards regional cooperation and towards Kosovo in particular.
The issue of integrated management of the state border between Kosovo and Serbia was also raised during the dialogue, and this was the first official presentation of views of both parties on the issue.
The Kosovo delegation defended the view that integrated border management is a European model that is acceptable for the state of Kosovo because it is in harmony with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and its laws and is committed to reaching an agreement based on European principles for integrated border management in accordance with the Treaty of Lisbon. The Kosovo delegation made it clear that it rejects any attempts by Serbia to politicize this issue. Following a comprehensive discussion on this issue, clear conceptual differences were observed, meaning that the potential alignment of positions may occur only after reaching complete compliance with the European model.
Telecom and energy issues were also discussed however there were no concrete results. As in the previous meetings, the Serbian party did not demonstrate serious commitment in finding solutions.
The Kosovo delegation at the conclusion of the meeting urged respect for the European Commission recommendations for a successful dialogue that includes the implementation of agreements by Serbia and reaching new agreements on issues that are on the agenda, noting that the decisions and actions must be swift so that sufficient time is ensured in order for the European Council to measure the performance of the parties prior to the decision to advance the countries towards the EU.
Since the results of this round were far less than the expectations of the EU, Robert Cooper set the next meeting on November 30, 2011.
The Delegation of the Republic of Kosovo headed by Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri, Head of the technical dialogue on the support team had: Lirim Greiçevci – Political Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dren Zeka – Chief Political Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister Tahiri, Arjeta Rexhaj – Political Advisor, Gazmir Raci – Political Advisor, Elona Cecelia – Political Advisor, Visar Xani – Political Advisor, Ibrahim Gashi – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Edon Cana – Regional Cooperation Coordinator with the OPM, Naim Huruglica – Director of Kosovo Customs, Fisnik Rexhepi – Political Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Qemajl Marmullakaj Senior Officer for policy planning (OPM), Shaban Guda – Kosovo Police.
Last modified: July 31, 2022