Ana Brnabic: "Diverse signals coming from Pristina in just two days" VIDEO

Ana Brnabic: "Diverse signals coming from Pristina in just two days" VIDEO

She was welcomed in front of the Austrian government building by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

The Austrian office published photos from the summit of the Western Balkans, which is being held in Vienna under the auspices of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

The published photos show Kosovo Prime Minister Kurti and Serbian Prime Minister Brnabic.

The main discussions at this summit are expected to be the European perspective of the Western Balkans and migration. Miroslav Lajcak, the EU special envoy for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, was the first to arrive at the gathering on the Western Balkans, which, according to Kurz, aims primarily to return the EU's focus to the Western Balkans.

Kurz, by the way, did not personally meet Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in front of the government building. He invited the prime ministers of the Western Balkan countries to a conference at which the European perspective will be discussed, but also the fight against COVID-19, economic support after the crisis, and the joint fight against illegal migration, his cabinet said.

In addition to Prime Minister Brnabic, the conference will be attended by the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija, the Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapic, the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti and the EU Envoy for Belgrade - Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.

Kurz wrote on Twitter that the EU is not complete while the Western Balkans are not part of it.

"You can count on our full support for the reforms needed for this and in the fight against the pandemic. We will emphasize that at today's summit in the Western Balkans," Kurz wrote.

"Gratitude to Sebastian Kurz"

"It is clear to everyone that there are member states that are absolutely against enlargement and are skeptical about further enlargement, but they do not say that openly," Brnabic said.

She added that whatever a country in the region that strives for the EU does, there is still something missing.

"It is a political game that will be counterproductive because people will get tired. I think it would be more honest for those member states to say that there is no enlargement for them, but I do not believe that it will happen," Serbian prime minister emphasized.

According to her, the second problem is setting a precedent, and the latest is that members resolve bilateral issues using European integration.

When asked if there are joint declarations, Brnabic says that there are none, unfortunately, and that the declaration of Chancellor Kurz and EU representative Miroslav Lajcak has been accepted.

"Until the last moment, we tried to find a compromise, Serbia agreed to many things, we really tried to show constructiveness. I agreed to some things only when Kurz asked us to accept, but somehow in the end Kurti removed that declaration from the table", Brnabic said.

She adds that this is a new reality and that it will not be easy, and says that she believes that now more and more partners in the EU understand how difficult it all is.

She states that two completely different signals are arriving from Pristina in just two days, and in that sense he states that yesterday Vjosa Osmani allowed the adoption of much more serious documents, the Strategy for Southeast Europe, where Kosovo is mentioned not only with an asterisk, but everywhere a footnote is mentioned, she said referring to the Brussels agreement, while today we have a different message.

"That unpredictability is an additional challenge that we all face, not only central Serbia, it is a new situation for us, it is never boring," she said.

Asked whether there were any unpleasant tones with the Prime Minister of the Interim Institutions of Pristina, Albin Kurti, Brnabic said that there was no room for various conflicts.

"We told each other everything we had, I didn't want to get into discussions, I repeated our views and that's it, we try to be constructive," she added. Speaking in general about what was discussed during the Summit in Vienna, Brnabić says that it was challenging to talk about the topics of regional stability and hear something new, considering that they are meeting for the third time in a few days.

She thanked Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for organizing the Summit, as well as for always openly showing commitment to the stability of the region, but also sincerely "pushing" the EU enlargement agenda.

She also stated that Chancellor Kurz said the best things about Serbia, in terms of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, but also that Austria envied Serbia at the beginning of the immunization campaign, but also in relation to economic results during 2020 and projected GDP for this year. The topics, she said, were challenges to regional stability.

"They always have open issues, but we have to find a way to cooperate. It depends on the region, we try to be constructive and come to all meetings and we are here as partners who want to contribute to a different future of the region," said the Prime Minister.

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"It is important"

"What we expected did not happen, nor did the opening of the cluster. It is important that we came to say what our views are," says Jadranka Joksimović. She says that Austria showed initiative and that they were not against the opening of the cluster.

She says that Serbia has actively entered the new methodology and that numerous reforms have been implemented, especially in the domain of the rule of law.

“The answer is not what we expected,” she adds.

She points out that the process is ongoing.