EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajcak was in Prishtina on Monday where he met with Prime Minister Albin Kurti to discuss the EU-facilitated dialogue and a recent energy agreement between Serbia and Kosovo.
Lajcak’s visit to Prishtina comes a week after the two countries signed a deal for the supply of energy to the four Serb-majority municipalities of northern Kosovo.
This is the first deal reached in the context of the dialogue since Prime Minister Kurti took office in March 2021.
“With this agreement, the budget of the Republic of Kosovo will be saved with tens of millions of euros per year, paid earlier to cover the energy costs of the north of the country,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
According to the roadmap implementation agreement, a Serbian company will receive a license to supply the municipalities of Leposavic, Zubin Potok, Zvecan and North Mitrovica with energy. The Serb in these areas have not paid for electricity since 1999, and the government of Kosovo had been subsidising their bills since 2017.
The dialogue itself was also part of the conversation between Kurti and Lajcak, as the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia continue their meetings in Brussels.
“Prime Minister Kurti reiterated that the Government of the Republic of Kosovo is committed to a principled dialogue, from which the citizens of both countries should benefit, through a stable and enforceable agreement, which focuses on mutual recognition,” reads the press statement.
Dialogue between the two countries has stalled since July 2021. While head negotiators have met on several occasions, they have yet to settle on agenda matters for a formal meeting between Kosovo’s and Serbia’s leaders.
