Djuric: Omission of the footnote raises concern and calls into question agreements reached through dialogue

Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marko Djuric, stated that the adoption of the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on the 2025 Enlargement Package without the designation “Kosovo*,” that is, without the accompanying footnote, raises serious concern and is not compatible with the status-neutral framework that forms the basis of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina under the mediation of the European Union.

Djuric recalled that the designation “Kosovo*” was established by the Agreement on Regional Representation and Cooperation in 2012 with EU mediation and represents a carefully balanced formulation that explicitly refers to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and the opinion of the International Court of Justice.

“Ignoring this agreed reference calls into question the arrangements reached through dialogue and risks undermining the fragile trust on which the process rests,” Djuric warned on the social network X.

He added that consistent adherence to previously agreed modalities is necessary to safeguard the credibility of the dialogue and maintain trust between the parties.

“Serbia will therefore continue to insist on the consistent application of a status-neutral approach in all EU institutions and at every level of engagement,” the head of Serbian diplomacy emphasized.

Meanwhile, the Association of Kosovo Municipalities announced yesterday that the European Committee of the Regions had informed them that, in its latest opinion on the 2025 Enlargement Package for the Western Balkans and Turkey, it had “decided to discontinue the use of the designation ‘Kosovo*’, i.e. ‘with an asterisk’, in documents and statements and instead to use ‘Kosovo’.”

In the same opinion, the Committee of the Regions also called for the lifting of European Union measures against Kosovo.