The application of the agreement on vehicle registration plates is proof that the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is possible and Brussels is working within that framework on the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, which is legally binding for both parties, European Commission (EC) spokesman Peter Stano said today in Brussels.
Stano emphasized that the dialogue will continue as soon as the new government of Serbia is formed, and the EC will help both sides in this, because Pristina and Belgrade should implement everything that has been specified. EU members and institutions expect this as soon as possible.
When asked whether a meeting at the highest level in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue can be expected in the foreseeable future, the EC spokesman said that "progress in the dialogue continues at all levels" and that the meeting between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Aljbin Kurti, will be announced when the conditions are met and the agenda of such a meeting is determined.
Asked to explain what the EU will do since Vučić sent a letter to the EU in December in which he stated that he would not apply the essential provisions of the Ohrid Agreement, the spokesman for the High European Representative, Josep Borelj, replied that he could not refer to the various letters and emphasized that "there is no knowledge that Serbia has officially renounced the application of obligations from the Brussels or Ohrid agreements".
He underlined that both of these agreements are legally binding, pointing out that the EU helps both parties to apply them and made it clear that the provisions of the agreement have become part of the process that leads Serbia and Kosovo towards joining the EU.
To the journalist's remark that Serbia is not progressing towards EU membership for other important reasons, Stano retorted that "it can be said that Serbia is not progressing for other reasons, but if one more were to be added to that, people would certainly not see it as favorable thing".
Borelj's spokesman added that the EU and the US are carefully monitoring this and expressed his belief that this year both sides will invest new energy in the implementation of the Brussels and Ohrid Agreements.
Bonus video:
