The very fact that talks between Serbia and Kosovo are to be hosted by the United States is indicative that the European Union no longer has the capacity to coordinate reconciliation, Serbian Ambassador to Russia Miroslav Lazanski told Sputnik in an interview
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd June, 2020) The very fact that talks between Serbia and Kosovo are to be hosted by the United States is indicative that the European Union no longer has the capacity to coordinate reconciliation, Serbian Ambassador to Russia Miroslav Lazanski told Sputnik in an interview.
US Special Envoy for Kosovo-Serbia Peace Negotiations Richard Grenell announced last week that leaders of Serbia and Kosovo are scheduled to hold talks in Washington, D.C. on June 27.
"It shows that the EU in reality does not have the authority in Pristina that Brussels believes it does. Otherwise these talks would not have been held in Washington, but rather continue in Brussels. This shows the EU's impotence in this question," Lazanski said.
The diplomat made a specific reference to the 2013 Brussels Agreement, under which a so-called Community of Serb Municipalities was to be established in Kosovo so that its Serbian-majority areas would be united into self-governing entities.
"We can see EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak insisting that the talks between Serbia and so-called Kosovo continue, but our experience so far has shown that the EU has not put pressure on Pristina to establish the Community of Serbian Municipalities," Lazanski said.
According to the Serbian ambassador, Pristina has implemented none of its commitments under the Brussels Agreement and the EU has failed to enforce the implementation in any way.
Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008. Pristina has since been seeking to gain recognition by as many other states as possible. Serbia, which has refused to recognize Kosovo's independence and refers to it as its Kosovo and Metohija region, has called on those who recognized its independence to revoke their recognition.
In 2011, Serbia, under the pressure of Brussels, began negotiations on the normalization of relations with Kosovar Albanians under the mediation of the European Union.
