Belgrade-Pristina dialogue to resume in Brussels

BELGRADE - Belgrade and Pristina will meet in Brussels to resume their talks on the normalization of relations, now facilitated by the new European foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, for the first time after ten months on Monday.

The negotiating teams are now being headed by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa, prime minister in the Kosovo government.

The dialogue will begin after 6 p.m., as Prime Minister Vucic will first have talks with European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn.

The agenda of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is set with consent from both parties, and according to earlier announcements, it is expected that the new round will focus on the implementation of the agreements reached so far and unresolved issues, such as judiciary integration, setting up a community of Serb municipalities and energy.

The Director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) said that Belgrade would insist on the adoption of a charter prescribing the powers of the community of Serb municipalities and raise the question of Serbian property in KiM, including the Trepca mining complex.

Kosovo Minister for Dialogue with Belgrade Edita Tahiri said that Pristina was interested in setting up a basic court in the (Serb-majority) north of the province and in introducing a national dialing code for Kosovo.

The dialogue is resuming amid a deterioration of relations between the two sides, caused by Pristina's recent decision to dismiss Kosovo Prime Minister for Communities and Return Aleksandar Jablanovic.

Prime Minister Mustafa dismissed Jablanovic on February 3 for his allegedly insulting "mothers of Djakovica...