Kosovo Seeks 'Consensus' For Fresh Serbia Talks

In an open letter published on Monday, the speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Kadri Veseli, has presented his own "consensual platform" for the EU-led talks with Serbia in Brussels, following the proposal of the government for a "state platform" on the talks.

Veseli called on all parties in Kosovo to unite behind a political consensus on five major issues facing Kosovo: dialogue with Serbia; the establishment of an Association of Serb-majority municipalities; the establishment of a Kosovo Army; an agenda on European integration, and election reform.

"Unification of stands and having a common state platform on this would be a guarantee of better completion of the dialogue process with Serbia," the letter sent to the parties reads.

"To achieve such a goal, it is necessary to establish a joint team led by the President of Kosovo", including the political and institutional leaders, as well as key personalities from civil society, it added.

The state platform currently proposed by the government also reads that "the Assembly confirms that the President and the Kosovo delegation, which will be established in coordination with the whole political spectrum..., are authorised to conduct negotiations to achieve an internationally legally binding agreement".

This legally binding agreement should then be the framework through which mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia should happen.

The state platform proposed by the government needs now to be voted on in parliament.

However, consensus on this is far from certain. The opposition Vetevendosje party, which opposes the way Kosovo has dealt so far with the dialogue with Serbia, said it sees Veseli's initiative as damaging to Kosovo and as a favour to President Hashim Thaci.

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