Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on February 6 accepted a proposed European Union plan aimed at normalizing relations with Serbia after meeting in Pristina with Miroslav Lajcak, the EU's special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
"We do accept the EU proposal for normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, and consider it a good basis for further discussion and a solid platform for moving forward," Kurti said in a statement posted afterward on Twitter.
Remaining questions on international guarantees, implementation mechanisms, and timing will be addressed soon during talks in Brussels, he said, adding, "Democratic concepts of European orientation make us hopeful.”
Lajcak said after the meeting that he and Kurti discussed scheduling a meeting on the plan at the highest level.
Lajcak did not specify when the meeting could be held but said that he would discuss it with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at their meeting later on February 6 in Belgrade.
Diplomatic efforts continue, Lajcak said, adding that the EU's proposal for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia was the basis of the talks he held with Kurti.
"We want to make sure that we make progress on that proposal and when we bring the two leaders to Brussels, that we have a constructive meeting," said Lajcak.
The EU proposal has been submitted to the authorities in Pristina and Belgrade and is supported by France, Germany, and the United States.
Vucic has said that he is ready to work on the implementation of the plan.
The proposal has not been made public, but RFE/RL has reported that among its provisions are respect for territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, recognition of state symbols, and a special arrangement for the Serbian community in Kosovo.
The document does not explicitly mention mutual recognition or membership of Kosovo in the United Nations, which Kosovo insists on. Vucic said last week that the plan stipulates that Serbia wouldn’t object to Kosovo’s inclusion in international organizations, though it wouldn’t have to formally recognize its statehood.
Lajcak confirmed to journalists in Pristina that he had discussed with Kurti his conditions for the formation of an Association of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo, but he declined to provide more details.
Lajcak has been pressing for the timely implementation of the Agreement on the Association of Serbian Municipalities, calling it “a key element for stability.”
The formation of the association was agreed within the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia on the normalization of relations, which has been conducted since 2011 through the European Union. Belgrade insists that the association be formed as agreed.
Kurti said last week that the association must be in accordance with the constitution and laws of Kosovo. He also said the name should be changed because it cannot be monoethnic, and it cannot have executive powers.
He also requested that the parallel structures of Serbia in the north of Kosovo be abolished before the association is established and that it be formed after mutual recognition.
Vucic called Kurti's conditions for the formation of the association a "fairy tale."
Kurti earlier called on Western powers not to pressure Kosovo into accepting the association, telling the Associated Press that the focus instead should be on making Serbia more democratic and getting rid of what he called Belgrade's hegemonistic ideas.
The Serbian government should acknowledge the independence of all of the ex-republics of the former Yugoslavia in order to “face the past,” Kurti said in an interview with the AP on February 5.