EU Envoy Miroslav Lajcak has stated that land swaps between Kosovo and Serbia are not on the agenda of the EU-facilitated dialogue.
In a reply to a letter by the Regional Women’s Lobby in South East Europe on the issue, Lajcak said the EU objective is to normalize relations between the two countries, Koha reported.
“As I have mentioned in many cases, exchange of territories is not on the dialogue agenda. What we are looking for is an agreement that will contribute to regional stability, normalize relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and help them move forward on their respective European paths,” Lajcak wrote in his reply.
The idea of land swaps between the two countries was pushed forward by presidents Hashim Thaci and Aleksandar Vucic, particularly during 2018-2019. It appeared to have failed after a Balkans summit hosted in Paris by Macron and Merkel.
On Thursday, Kosovo and Serbia held another round of talks at expert level in Brussels. Kosovo maintains it’s negotiating mutual recognition but Serbia denies it. At the same time with this claim, the government of Kosovo has asked the US administration to include mutual recognition in the EU-facilitated dialogue agenda.
On September 4, the leaders of the two Balkan countries will meet at the White House to discuss “economic cooperation”. No further details have been made public.
