Stano: Coordinated text of the Declaration on Missing Persons; the first step of the Agreement

The chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia, Besnik Bislimi and Petar Petkovic, had agreed on the text of the Declaration on Missing Persons, the spokesperson of the EU Foreign Affairs Service, Petar Stano, confirmed for N1, stating that it was a "first step in accordance with the Annex to the Agreement on the Road to Normalization relations between the two parties", which was previously agreed at the highest level meeting on March 18 in Ohrid.

Stano added that the Declaration would be officially supported by the leaders of the two parties, Aleksandar Vucic and Albin Kurti, at the next meeting, the date of which had not been determined yet.

He said that at yesterday's meeting, the first after the Vucic-Kurti meeting in Ohrid, the main negotiators had discussed the implementation of all provisions of the Agreement and its Annex, as well as urgent, current issues, including energy and license plates.

"It is clear that all issues on the agenda need to be discussed further in order to make progress, and the parties have agreed to meet again soon," Stano said, without specifying when that meeting should be held.

Stano reiterated that the EU expected both Kosovo and Serbia to comply with all their obligations arising from the Agreement and the Annex reached in Ohrid and to start implementing them without delay.

"All parties should avoid any counterproductive, i.e. non-constructive rhetoric and activities that have the potential to disrupt the implementation (of the agreement) and threaten stability on the ground," the spokesperson of the EU External Action Service said.