News | Serbian Unity Congress

July 23, 2007 on 5:35 am | In Kosovo & Metohija, News in English |

BRUSSELS — Kosovo will be on the agenda as EU’s foreign policy chiefs meet in Brussels Monday.

European diplomats have said that there was room to maneuver in the awaiting negotiations between Belgrade and Priština to take place in a new format withing the Contact Group.

According to sources at the EU, the talks between the two sides are likely to begin through diplomatic mediators in hopes that the Serbian and Kosovo Albanians will take the initiative to continue direct dialog later.

The sources state that finding a Kosovo status solution will remain a hard task, and that there are no indications of events beginning to move in a positive direction.

They also said that a unilateral decision on the province’s status could result if no breakthroughs are made in the talks.

Brussels believes that this would be very negative for Kosovo because that process would also prove “very long and hard”.

Such a move would also be difficult for Serbia, according to EU officials, who added that it was very hard to imagine that the EU would not take action if no progress is made after four months of added negotiations.

EU sources stated that Kosovo cannot solve its status question without the EU, and that the democratic leaders of Serbia stress that Serbia sees itself as a future EU member country.

The launching of four-month negotiations to complete a draft EU reform treaty meant to streamline the way the bloc operates in the years ahead will top the agenda of Monday’s meeting.

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