Check against delivery! 

Good afternoon. 

Today, we hosted the leaders of Kosovo [Prime Minister, Albin Kurti] and Serbia [President Aleksandar Vučić] for another High-level Dialogue meeting.  

Our last meeting here in Brussels was in June, and it was occupied by the crisis in the north of Kosovo. And this time we focused on [the] implementation of the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation – which is key. It is key for taking the normalisation process forward. 

In our meeting in May, I had to call on the parties to move from negotiations to implementation. And this message is now even more important, because it has been a year – a full year - since we started discussions on the Agreement on the Path to Normalisation and six months since we met in Ohrid to finalise it. 

In Ohrid, the Parties agreed to implement all their respective obligations – their commitments - stemming from the Agreement and its Annex. They agreed to implement it expediently and in good faith, and without any obstructions. 

Six months later, only three elements have been addressed: the Declaration of Missing Persons, the presentation of the Management Team statute for the Association/Community and the announcement of the Joint Monitoring Committee. But the implementation of the most important and substantial points has not yet started.  

And this is very regrettable, and it speaks volumes about the Parties’ true commitment to normalisation of relations – or rather the absence of it. The absence of commitment. 

Allow me to say that each Party is being judged by its own merits. Lack of action by either Party means that both Kosovo and Serbia are in direct and serious violation of their Dialogue obligations and in breach of their promises.  

Back in May, the Management Team presented the proposal on the statute of the Association/Community of Serb-Majority Municipalities. More than four months later, nothing else has happened. Instead, we are again in a cycle of tensions and daily escalations. We came back from agreements to escalation. 

The establishment of the Association/Community is an old obligation for the Parties and it has always been a key element in the normalisation process. Therefore, it is crucial that the negotiations on the statute finally starts with no further delay, in the context of the implementation of the Agreement.   

From our side, I, as the Facilitator [of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue] with the extraordinary support of Special Representative of the European Union, Miroslav Lajčák, we have applied repeated efforts to facilitate a compromise on how the implementation process would look like.   

The two Parties started from opposite ends. Prime Minister Kurti wanted political aspects of normalisation first, while Serbia wants to start with the establishment of the Association/Community before engaging on its obligations. This is why, we proposed what we see as the only possible compromise today – a process that would allow these two to run in parallel. [Instead of working on] one first, [or] the other first, let’s work in parallel. This is the best compromise that we could offer. 

Moving [on] implementation in parallel would ensure that the core principles – namely that you have to do something in order to get something – are fulfilled.  

The European Union and the wider international community, including our American partners, see this as the only realistic way [that] the implementation can work. Both need to have the guarantees that their actions are rewarded with counter-actions by the other Party. This is the way we look for a balance point in a negotiation.  

And today, I tried with Prime Minister Kurti and President Vučić to find solutions and a way forward based on our proposal.  

Unfortunately, after quite a long meeting, Prime Minister Kurti was not ready to move forward and start a credible process towards establishing the Association/Community. He insisted instead on formalising de facto recognition as the first step.  

I have to say, President Vučić accepted the European Union’s proposal for the implementation of the Agreement. He came with another proposal, but finally he accepted our proposal. 

We tried hard, but unfortunately, it was not possible to bridge the differences today. 

I also have to inform [you] that there was no progress on de-escalation of tensions in the north of Kosovo.  

As a reminder, all 27 European Union Member States – all of them together - have asked in no uncertain terms, for concrete steps to resolve the current crisis.  

Some steps were taken by Kosovo and we welcome them – some - but they fall short of meeting the requests made for full de-escalation. 

Today, we again urged both Parties to take immediate action in the north of Kosovo to de-escalate the situation, to avoid any further destabilisation and to enable new early local elections to take place immediately.  We cannot sit and wait for the next crisis. This has to take place immediately, in line with the requests made by the European Union and the broader international community.  

Let’s talk about the path to early elections. The early elections can go either through resignation of the mayors in the four Kosovo Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo, or through the collection of signatures of the Kosovo-Serbs to recall the mayors. Either they resign, either there is a collection of signatures to recall them. 

Let me also clarify in this respect that the European Union sees resignation of the mayors, who have been elected by only 3% of the population, as the fastest and best way to enable early elections. The other procedure, looking for signatures, is lengthy and uncertain. 

Kosovo Serbs are expected to show constructiveness and engage unconditionally in the electoral process. They have to participate, otherwise the whole exercise will be unmeaningful. I welcome the assurances I got today from President Vučić in this regard. 

If there is no progress on the elections, the risk of new escalation will continue to loom over the implementation of the Agreement and through the broader normalisation process.     

Since March, we have a very good Agreement. A very good Agreement that provides a clear framework on the way forward on normalisation of relations and brings tangible benefits for their citizens if the Agreement is being implemented.  

I am sorry to say: we are running out of time. At the end of the day, those who suffer most from the inability of their leaders to stay true to their words are the citizens. 

This is particularly worrying at a time when the European Union is so clearly moving forward on enlargement.    

Both President Vučić and Prime Minister Kurti declared that they want to be members of the European Union – a Union that is built on partnership, on compromise, on good relations between neighbours and the vision of a better future for all citizens.  

I have to remind them that the path for both Kosovo and Serbia go through the Dialogue. There is no way around it. There is not another solution. Without normalisation, there will not be a European future for either Kosovo or Serbia. 

Kosovo and Serbia are risking to be left behind when others regional partners are moving quicker towards Europe. 

I think it is now finally time to take the process forward, and to show that Kosovo and Serbia can live together in peace and be part of the European family. A family that overcame so many confrontations in the past and learned to live together in peace. 

I want to thank my Special Representative, Miroslav Lajčák, and all of his team for their excellent work in such difficult circumstances.   

After this meeting, Miroslav and I, we will inform the Member States and we will decide together on the way forward. 

Thank you. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-245640