EU denies Mogherini walked out of meeting with Haradinaj

EU denies Mogherini walked out of meeting with Haradinaj

It is also stated that Mogherini took this personally, and left the Council meeting before it ended.

But later the same day, the agency cited EC spokesperson Maja Kocijancic who denied the report, saying that Mogherini "did not leave Friday's meeting of the EU-Kosovo Stabilization and Association Council."

"The SA Council meeting was held and the High Representative (Mogherini) was there all the time," Kocijancic said in a statement to Tanjug.

In its original report, the agency said it learned unofficially from Brussels sources that EU's message to Haradinaj was that "Kosovo must work seriously on its European perspective and take advantage of the opportunity that the entire region has in terms of the European perspective."

Earlier today, a planned joint press conference of Mogherini and Haradinaj was suddenly canceled.

The official explanation of the EU side is that the reason was "a matter of the agenda."

Correspondents from Kosovo are reporting from Brussels about "a bad atmosphere" during the meeting, that took place on Friday morning at the European Council building.

This was the first official visit of Haradinaj to Brussels since he became prime minister.

In addition to participating in the meeting of the Stabilization and Association Council (SA Council) between the European Union and Kosovo, Haradinaj spoke bilaterally with Mogherini, and with EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

The statement

A join statement was posted after the meeting on Friday on the EU External Action website, without mentioning the canceled news conference, or the reported walkout.

"The SA Council recalled that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) is at the core of the relationship between the EU and Kosovo. It provides the contractual framework within which the EU and Kosovo will intensify their co-operation and take stock of developments in their relationship. Kosovo underlined its firm commitment to deliver swiftly on key SAA reforms, as identified in the European reform agenda, in close coordination with EU institutions, with a view of continued progress on its European path," the statement, said, and continued:

"The SA Council reviewed recent key developments relating to the fulfillment of the political criteria, as well as the state of play concerning the economic criteria, financial cooperation and the implementation of the SAA. It noted the results of the Stabilization and Association committee held on 5 October.

The meeting discussed reform priorities under the SAA, in areas including rule of law and judicial reforms, respect for fundamental rights, public administration reform, economic development, education and employment. The jointly agreed European reform agenda should serve as a guideline for concrete deliverables.

The meeting underlined the importance of continuous engagement in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade and of the implementation of all agreements already reached without delay. It welcomed the most recent progress made in this direction, and underlined the necessity for all agreements reached in the dialogue to be implemented without further delay.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, and co-chaired by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, while Commissioner Johannes Hahn represented the European Commission. Minister Behgjet Pacolli, Minister Dhurata Hoxha and Minister Abelard Tahiri also participated."