The European External Action Service (EEAS) has confirmed that the High Representative, Josep Borrell, will host the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, in a high-level dialogue meeting, on the 26 June in Brussels.

“The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, have confirmed their participation. The High Representative [Josep Borrell] and the Special Envoy, Miroslav Lajcak, will have separate meetings with the leaders starting at 15:00, to be followed by a joint tripartite meeting. The meeting will serve to assess what has been achieved in the dialogue under the leadership of the High Representative and will focus on the way forward,” the EU statement said.

Borrell is expected to address the media after Wednesday’s meeting.

Last week, the Government of Kosovo told Radio Free Europe that this meeting in Brussels is expected to have the main focus on the implementation of the Agreement on the path towards the normalization of relations, the Annex for its implementation “and the way forward”.

The holding of the new round of dialogue was agreed upon during the visits that Lajcak made to Kosovo and Serbia last week.

For the last time, Kurti and Vučić met in Brussels on September 14, 2023, when they discussed the implementation of the Agreement on the way to the normalization of relations, but this meeting resulted in no progress, due to the contradictory positions of the parties.

A few days later, on September 24, a group of armed Serbs attacked the Kosovo police in the village of Banjské in Zveçan – in the north of Kosovo – killing a policeman. During the clashes that followed, three Serbian attackers were also killed, Radio Free Europe wrote.

Kosovo accuses Serbia of being behind the attack, but Belgrade denies having a hand in it.

Since then, despite the West’s efforts, Kurti and Vučić have not met to discuss the implementation of the agreement.

This agreement – which was reached last year – has not been signed by the parties, but the EU says it is legally binding for Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo demands that the agreement be signed, but Serbia refuses to do so.

The agreement of 11 articles, among other things, foresees a level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while asking Pristina and Belgrade to also implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue.

The EU – which since 2011 mediates the dialogue for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia – has criticized the parties for not implementing the agreement.