The Council of EU on Friday appointed Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak as the new EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) The Council of EU on Friday appointed Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak as the new EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.
Lajcak's appointment was proposed by EU High Representative Josep Borrell earlier this year, after US President Donald Trump appointed then-Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to a similar position in 2019. Lajcak has an extensive diplomatic background, having served as the minister of foreign affairs of Slovakia and the EU special representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other positions.
"The Council today appointed Mr. Miroslav Lajcak as EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues. The tasks of the new EU Special Representative will be to achieve comprehensive normalisation of the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, improve good neighbourly relations and reconciliation between partners in the Western Balkans, helping them overcome the legacy of the past, and contribute to the consistency and effectiveness of EU action in the Western Balkans," the council said in a statement, stating that his initial mandate would last for 12 months.
The Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue was set up in 2011 to facilitate a political settlement between Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. The status of the territory remains disputed between Serbia and Kosovo's Albanian population.
