As part of a large rotation in the diplomatic posts of the European Union worldwide, Miroslav Lajčák, who is currently the special envoy of the bloc for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, is expected to become the EU ambassador to Switzerland.
Radio Free Europe (RFE) cites diplomatic sources that Lajčák will start his mandate in the Swiss capital, Bern, on September 1 this year.
It is still unknown who will replace Lajčák in the position of special envoy for the dialogue on the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.
Four years ago, former Slovak Foreign Minister Lajčák was appointed to this position. His mandate ends at the end of August.
European sources said that the post of special representative for the dialogue will be decided later, after the rotation of a large number of EU ambassadors worldwide.
It also needs to be decided how the EU will approach the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in the future. However, efforts will be made within the EU to make this decision before September 1 to avoid a vacuum after Lajčák’s departure. This will depend on the approach that the EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy, who will succeed Josep Borrell in this position, will take.
However, who will be the new head of European diplomacy and what approach will be taken towards the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which the EU has been mediating since 2011, will be decided after the European elections in June, from which the new composition of the European Commission will also be chosen.
Criticism of Kosovar leaders towards Lajčák
During his mediation of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Lajčák has been accused of “bias” in the process by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
In September 2023, Kurti declared that Lajčák and Washington’s envoy to the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, “come to us with requests from the other party”, referring to Serbia.
He made these statements when the international community was urging Kosovo and Serbia to reduce tensions in northern Kosovo, which escalated in May, after Albanian mayors took office in Serb-majority municipalities.
Kurti also declared that Lajčák was positioned “against Kosovo”.
Meanwhile, Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani has continuously criticized the European Union for some punitive measures that the bloc still has in place against Kosovo due to tensions in the north. She has stated that the non-lifting of these measures puts dialogue with Serbia “outside boundaries”, a process in which, according to her, both parties “should be treated equally”.
Osmani has stated that these punitive measures are creating an imbalance in the dialogue.
New Head of the EU Office in Kosovo
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources of Radio Free Europe said that the current EU ambassador to Estonia, Aivo Orav, has been selected to be the new head of the European bloc’s office in Kosovo. This post also has the rank of the EU special representative.
When officially confirmed, Orav will replace the current ambassador, Tomáš Szunyog, in this post in Pristina.
The future head of the EU office in Kosovo has experience in the Western Balkans region, as he previously served as head of the EU delegation to North Macedonia and Montenegro.
As part of the changes, Italian diplomat Luigi Soreca is expected to become the head of the EU delegation in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Italian diplomat has been the EU ambassador to Albania.
