The European Union's special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Peter Sorensen, said on Thursday that he had good meetings in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Serbia's chief negotiator in the dialogue, Petar Petković, to advance discussions on key issues of the dialogue as well as analyze progress in the implementation of the Law on Foreigners.
"We agreed on the need to be engaged and work together for the good of all," Sorensen said in a post on X.
President Vučić said earlier in the day that he discussed with Sorensen issues that are straining relations in the region.
"The focus of the conversation was the situation in 'Kosovo and Metohija', especially the security of the Serbian population and the great insecurity it experiences, due to the selective application of laws and obvious discrimination in many areas of life," Vučić wrote on Facebook.
He said that Pristina's unilateral measures and the implementation of laws without agreement in Brussels create serious pressure on the Serbian people and "vital Serbian institutions" in Kosovo.
Vučić apparently referred to the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Vehicles, which began to be implemented in Kosovo on March 15.
Vučić added that Serbia remains committed to dialogue for the normalization of relations with Kosovo, as the only sustainable path to resolving open issues.
He said that he has requested the concrete commitment of actors in Pristina to implement the agreements reached, including the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities.
He also warned that "unilateral actions by Pristina" increase tensions and undermine the fragile stability on the ground, damaging the dialogue process.
"I reiterated that the EU's strong and continued engagement is essential to prevent such activities and to ensure that no action is aimed at hindering the dialogue, but, on the contrary, at creating conditions for its peaceful and constructive development," Vučić wrote on social media.
Last month, Sorensen was received by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Pristina.
After that meeting, his government offered some temporary relief to Serbian citizens in the Law on Foreigners.
A day earlier, during a visit to North Mitrovica, Kurti said that state institutions function in the service of all citizens without distinction.
Sorensen recently met with US State Department officials, with whom he said he has secured harmonization for the next steps in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
There has not been a high-level meeting between representatives of these two countries since September 2023, although the EU has expressed its willingness to organize one./ REL
