Stano: The date of the meeting in Brussels has not been determined yet; we expect Vucic and Kurti to show constructiveness

European Union spokesperson Peter Stano said today that the date of the meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, which had been organized in Brussels by the High Representative Josep Borrell, had not been determined yet, as the parties had not confirmed their participation.

Stano emphasized that Borrell had sent an invitation for a crisis meeting in order to find a political solution for de-escalation and to return to the implementation of the agreement from the dialogue.

"The High Representative and EU member states expect much more reasonable behavior from partners who have aspirations to join the Union. Both leaders have been invited and we expect them to come to the meeting without prior conditions. Finding a solution is primarily in the interest of the people of Kosovo and Serbia. The EU, countries members are observing how they are behaving, whether there is a will for de-escalation, a will to resolve the situation," Stano said.

He said that there were two important meetings in the EU, first of all, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU states next Monday in Luxembourg, whose agenda would include the situation in the north of Kosovo, and then the European Council, which should reach certain conclusions.

"These meetings will reflect the readiness of the leaders to show constructiveness and the will to find a solution. The invitation of the High Representative is an opportunity offered to both Prime Minister Kurti and President Vucic to show that, after all, they can be constructive and to try to find a solution," Stano said.

He pointed out that this was not to satisfy Brussels, but concerned the European future of the people in Kosovo and Serbia.

"The lack of engagement will have consequences for the citizens of Kosovo and Serbia. This is the sole responsibility of the two leaders, President Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti, and no one else," Stano pointed out.

He stated that the EU was closely monitoring the situation in the north of Kosovo and that Brussels was currently focused on the invitation of the High Representative to help the parties reach a solution.

"That is why he invited them to a crisis meeting in Brussels and, as I said, we expected them to show reasonable behavior, to come and make the necessary efforts in the direction of de-escalation. We will see if the meeting will take place and how it will go," the EU spokesperson said.

He repeated that everything that happened would reflect on the European perspective of both Serbia and Kosovo.

"Depending on how things develop and if there is progress, the EU and the High Representative will decide on the next steps. At this stage, we are focusing on what is needed immediately, which is an urgent de-escalation and finding a political way out of the situation," Stano pointed out.

He indicated that, fortunately, there had been no physical escalation of the situation in the north in the past few days, but added that "we have not seen any meaningful step towards de-escalation yet".

He repeated that there was no date for the crisis meeting yet because the parties had not confirmed their participation.

"Until now we have not been able to set a date because we do not have an answer, except that we have had the opportunity to hear some non-constructive public remarks and comments. But we expect them to come without conditions and to be able to find a way out of the crisis because it is up to the two of them to discuss and come up with solutions and we will be happy as always to help them, to mediate, and to advise. But, in the end, it is their decision to do something to de-escalate the situation, because it is in the interest of their citizens," Stano repeated.