Lajcak: I expect both sides to accept European plan on Monday

BELGRADE - The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak said on Thursday he expected both sides to accept an EU plan for resolving the Kosovo issue at Monday's meeting in Brussels.

"The plan I believe we will accept on Monday will become binding for both sides. It is not a temporary agreement and the process of comprehensive normalisation of relations, which should be concluded by the signing of a comprehensive agreement prior to Serbia's and Kosovo's EU accession, will be continued after it," Lajcak told Tanjug in an interview.

He said the document would be made public once it had been accepted by both Belgrade and Pristina.

Asked if the fact the February 27 meeting had been called meant that Belgrade and Pristina had reached an agreement on a final version of the French-German plan, Lajcak responded that the plan had been a subject of discussions with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo PM Albin Kurti since September.

"Recently, in January and February, respectively, President Vucic and PM Kurti said they accept the proposal. It means the time is ripe to organise a meeting in Brussels and we expect that our partners accept that proposal officially and publicly and that we discuss its implementation, which is the goal of our meeting on Monday," Lajcak noted.

Asked if the meeting was crucial and based on the take-it-or-leave-it principle, Lajcak said he would not discuss formalities.

"It is important that both sides accept that plan and say formally and publicly that they accept it, and then we can discuss all other details, above all, implementation of the plan," Lajcak said.

He said the upcoming Brussels meeting was very important as further steps would depend on the positions of the negotiating parties.

"Acceptance of our proposal, supported by the 27 EU member states and the US, would mean that they have decided to improve their relations and accelerate their European paths. Should the proposal be rejected by either side or both of them, it would be a negative signal that they are not prepared to normalise mutual relations and make quicker progress son the European path, so we expect the plan to be accepted. Everyone knows what we expect from Monday's meeting. We had discussions with both President Vucic and PM Kurti during the Munich Security Conference so we all know where we are and what we expect," Lajcak said.

He said the proposal was strongly backed by the EU.

"Rejecting the proposal would mean rejecting a normalisation of relations and the European path, and the US, the international community and the EU would react to that. Right now, I do not want to get into what the negative consequences would be. I think it is clear to everyone that there is no saying no to the EU and America, especially if this can give us stabilisation, normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, stabilisation of the atmosphere in the Balkans and an accelerated European path," Lajcak said.