Pavkovic: Main topic tomorrow in Brussels the draft statute of the CSM, but without concretizing the agreement

Researcher at the Center for European Policy, Milos Pavkovic, says for Kosovo Online that he expects the main topic of discussion between the chief negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina tomorrow in Brussels to be the draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities. However, he emphasizes that it is apparent that the strategy "on both sides is to procrastinate" and that one should not expect much more concrete outcomes from this meeting than from previous ones.

Pavkovic believes that the visit of the Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, to the Serbian capital, where he met with President Aleksandar Vucic and the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, two days before the meeting in Brussels, is actually a form of preparation for what will happen at the negotiations.

"I wouldn't say it is about pressure; I would rather say it is a form of preparing Belgrade for what awaits them tomorrow in Brussels on the table, and that is undoubtedly the draft statute of the CSM. We saw that Lajcak was also in Pristina, that the EU got involved in the draft, and that it's there. Although we don't have official confirmation, there is probably a final version of the draft. Now it has probably been presented to Belgrade, and I believe the expectations are that, during this joint round in Brussels, Belgrade and Pristina will decide on that presented draft," Pavkovic says.

He notes that some information about the draft statute of the CSM has appeared in the Kosovo media.

"It is not yet available to the public; we saw that some versions came out in Kosovo media, which are still unconfirmed, but that is another indicator that the main topic at the talks in Brussels will be the draft statute of the CSM," he emphasizes.

Speaking about expectations for the upcoming round of negotiations involving the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Besnik Bislimi, Pavkovic says he does not expect any concretization of agreements or the signing of any document.

"When we talk about a specific agreement, both sides have been reserved so far and have accepted some agreements in principle. It seems that the tactics and strategy of both sides are to prolong this negotiation process to the maximum. We are waiting for the European Parliament elections in the summer and the US elections next fall, so it seems that the strategy is to postpone everything. Accordingly, I expect that this time we will not have a breakthrough in the dialogue and concrete signing but rather a more general agreement or perhaps some disagreements and further discussions about the draft statute itself. This is something that can happen at this moment," Pavkovic concludes.