EU's approach to Kosovo "status-neutral" - spokesperson

EU's approach to Kosovo "status-neutral" - spokesperson

Kocijancic was replying to a question posed by an Albanian reporter who wanted to know "why the flag of Kosovo was not displayed during the meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn on Monday."

"Recognition or non-recognition of Kosovo is a decision which member countries should adopt independently," the spokesperson said, reflecting on the fact that five EU member countries did not recognize Kosovo.

Asked whether this means that "Kosovo does not exist for the EU," Kocijancic replied that the EU was "very engaged in an attempt to improve the life of Kosovo citizens and encourage reforms," and recalled that EULEX is the largest EU mission in the world.

Journalists from Albanian-language media also asked whether the agreement on the judiciary drafted on Tuesday within the Brussels dialogue was "discriminatory" as it envisages that judges and prosecutors in northern Kosovo can be either Serbs or Albanians, but not members of other nations in Kosovo.

Kocijancic replied that "the achievement of the agreement on the judiciary was very important for the EU" but that she was "not authorized to comment on the details because this is a matter of the sides in the dialogue."