Kosovo talks round ends, no new agreements

The second day of the latest round of Belgrade-Pristina dialogue on technical issues ended on Tuesday without any new agreements. Although certain convergence between the two sides' stands has been achieved as regards Pristina's presentation at regional forums, no tangible agreement has been made yet, head of Belgrade's negotiating team Borislav Stefanovic said and expressed hope that the agreement would be reached in the forthcoming round of talks next week. Kosovo talks round ends, no new agreements Stefanovic said that this round can still be qualified as positive because of the agreement on university degrees reached on Monday and the fact that both sides had a chance to voice their stands on all important issues. We were followed by voices from Belgrade saying that the team has no mandate, that it does not know what it actually wants to achieve and that no agreement would be reached, Stefanovic said and added that he hopes that those who said this now see that they were wrong. Head of Pristina's negotiating team Edita Tahiri confirmed that certain convergence between the stands regarding Pristina's representation has been achieved, but she also noted that Belgrade and Pristina are still divided by deep conceptual differences. She expressed disappointment that apart from the university degrees, no agreement has been reached on other issues, such as crossings, electricity and telephone lines, and accused Belgrade of not performing the agreements reached so far. She fears that this could end in mere production of papers and no tangible implementation of agreements. (EU, file) Focus on administrative line After the meeting held on Monday, Stefanovic commented on the issue of administrative line crossings to say: “Pristina still insists on symbols that would confirm their statehood and this will make reaching an agreement very difficult. The administrative line will never be a country border for us, and they insist on it being exactly that." Summing up the first part of the talks' new round, the head of Belgrade's team said they had been “quite difficult.” Stefanovic said ahead of the meeting that it is not realistic to expect an agreement on the administrative crossings at the moment, or on telecommunications, and called on the EU to strengthen their efforts in order for Pristina to accept a compromise. "We will continue the talks, but at this point it would be unrealistic to expect an agreement," he noted. Stefanovic also said that during Tuesday's round of the dialogue, Pristina's participation at regional meetings, which saw some improvement the day before, will be discussed. However, when it comes to electricity and telecommunications, "there is no room for convergence of views," he said. He urged the European mediators to intensify pressure in order to talk Pristina into a compromise. EU's influence on Pristina should be more pronounced, Stefanovic said. The chief of the Belgrade team, however, pointed out that the agreement on recognition of university diplomas reached on Monday was a good solution, and said that certificates will be issued without the state symbols and validated by the European University Association. The new round of talks came after a pause that lasted almost full three months. Ahead of the beginning of yesterday's meeting, Pristina's lead negotiator Edita Tahiri said she hoped the two sides would approach the dialog in a constructive way and make some progress. When it comes to the crossings, Tahiri said that the proposal about "joint control of the gates was in line with European standards.” "An integrated border control is the European way," she said. "No stand" EULEX has no stand on status issues because its mandate is technical and not political, EULEX spokesperson Hanns-Christian Classing said commenting on the statement by head of Pristina's negotiating team Edita Tahiri that the mission is no longer status-neutral. EULEX stand has not changed, Klasing noted in a written statement for Tanjug and added that the mission's nature is technical and not political and thus it cannot be involved in status issues. According to him, EULEX has no stand on issues related to the status of Kosovo. He underscored that independent judges make the final decision about the laws EULEX is implementing. The independence of the judiciary has a key importance in a democratic society, the spokesperson said and added that the most important thing now is for everyone to have free and fair access to rule of law, regardless of their ethnicity. Commenting on EULEX actions in Kosovo, Tahiri stated in Brussels on Monday that the situation has improved since September 16, when the agreement on customs stamps was reached, and noted that the mission is no longer status-neutral and has started implementing the laws of Kosovo.

Kosovo talks round ends, no new agreements

Stefanović said that this round can still be qualified as positive because of the agreement on university degrees reached on Monday and the fact that both sides had a chance to voice their stands on all important issues.

We were followed by voices from Belgrade saying that the team has no mandate, that it does not know what it actually wants to achieve and that no agreement would be reached, Stefanović said and added that he hopes that those who said this now see that they were wrong.

Head of Priština's negotiating team Edita Tahiri confirmed that certain convergence between the stands regarding Priština's representation has been achieved, but she also noted that Belgrade and Priština are still divided by deep conceptual differences.

She expressed disappointment that apart from the university degrees, no agreement has been reached on other issues, such as crossings, electricity and telephone lines, and accused Belgrade of not performing the agreements reached so far.

She fears that this could end in mere production of papers and no tangible implementation of agreements.

Focus on administrative line

After the meeting held on Monday, Stefanović commented on the issue of administrative line crossings to say:

“Priština still insists on symbols that would confirm their statehood and this will make reaching an agreement very difficult. The administrative line will never be a country border for us, and they insist on it being exactly that."

Summing up the first part of the talks' new round, the head of Belgrade's team said they had been “quite difficult.”

Stefanović said ahead of the meeting that it is not realistic to expect an agreement on the administrative crossings at the moment, or on telecommunications, and called on the EU to strengthen their efforts in order for Priština to accept a compromise.

"We will continue the talks, but at this point it would be unrealistic to expect an agreement," he noted.

Stefanović also said that during Tuesday's round of the dialogue, Priština's participation at regional meetings, which saw some improvement the day before, will be discussed. However, when it comes to electricity and telecommunications, "there is no room for convergence of views," he said.

He urged the European mediators to intensify pressure in order to talk Priština into a compromise.

EU's influence on Priština should be more pronounced, Stefanović said.

The chief of the Belgrade team, however, pointed out that the agreement on recognition of university diplomas reached on Monday was a good solution, and said that certificates will be issued without the state symbols and validated by the European University Association.

The new round of talks came after a pause that lasted almost full three months.

Ahead of the beginning of yesterday's meeting, Priština's lead negotiator Edita Tahiri said she hoped the two sides would approach the dialog in a constructive way and make some progress.

When it comes to the crossings, Tahiri said that the proposal about "joint control of the gates was in line with European standards.”

"An integrated border control is the European way," she said.

"No stand"

EULEX has no stand on status issues because its mandate is technical and not political, EULEX spokesperson Hanns-Christian Classing said commenting on the statement by head of Priština's negotiating team Edita Tahiri that the mission is no longer status-neutral.

EULEX stand has not changed, Klasing noted in a written statement for Tanjug and added that the mission's nature is technical and not political and thus it cannot be involved in status issues.

According to him, EULEX has no stand on issues related to the status of Kosovo.

He underscored that independent judges make the final decision about the laws EULEX is implementing.

The independence of the judiciary has a key importance in a democratic society, the spokesperson said and added that the most important thing now is for everyone to have free and fair access to rule of law, regardless of their ethnicity.

Commenting on EULEX actions in Kosovo, Tahiri stated in Brussels on Monday that the situation has improved since September 16, when the agreement on customs stamps was reached, and noted that the mission is no longer status-neutral and has started implementing the laws of Kosovo.