The European Union’s Special Representative for the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, Peter Sorensen, has set neither a deadline for concluding the process nor a date for the next meeting of the chief negotiators. According to the Danish diplomat, the main measure should be the progress achieved, not the calendar.
Të lidhura
None found
“I do not have a date to announce for the next meeting of the chief negotiators. Preparations are ongoing, and I remain in regular contact with both delegations to determine when a meeting could produce results. Nor will I set a deadline for concluding the dialogue as a whole. What matters is that both sides implement the agreements they have already accepted. My criterion is progress, not the calendar,” he said.
Sorensen is taking the same approach to a new high-level meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. He stressed that such a meeting is not organized as a reward or to create a photo opportunity, but only when it can help achieve results. According to him, the High Representative is ready to convene the meeting when both leaders are prepared to deliver concrete results.
Addressing Kurti’s condition that Milan Radoičić be extradited from Serbia to Kosovo before he participates in another high-level meeting, Sorensen noted that this format serves as a platform for political engagement in the normalization process. For this reason, he said the prime minister’s absence would not advance the process of ensuring accountability.
The European envoy stressed that ensuring accountability for the events in Banjska is essential. He reiterated that the EU’s demand has been clear and unchanged and is communicated to the Serbian authorities during every contact: Belgrade is expected to arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2023 attacks.
Sorensen also insists that the Ohr Agreement constitutes an international obligation for both sides, even though Kurti and Vučić did not sign it. In a written interview with the KosovaPress News Agency, he explained that the 2023 Ohr Agreement is legally binding under international law, with or without signatures.
According to him, consent to become a party to an agreement does not necessarily have to be expressed through a signature, as it can also be given in other forms, as occurred in this case. He said that both sides accepted the text in Ohr and raised no objections when the EU determined how their consent would be recorded.
The diplomat recalled that on March 18, 2023, the High Representative confirmed the binding nature of the Agreement in writing. This has remained the European Union’s position ever since.
However, Sorensen acknowledged that implementation of the deal remains below the required level. He said he has repeatedly communicated this assessment publicly to Pristina and Belgrade, as well as to the European Commission and EU member states.
“The problem is not the lack of signatures, but the lack of implementation. That is precisely where the focus of our efforts should be,” Sorensen wrote.
He added that he had listened to Kosovo’s concerns and examined ways to further consolidate the Agreement. Nevertheless, he said this should serve as an impetus for implementation, not as a substitute for it.
In late July, Sorensen visited Pristina and met with acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. However, the office of the EU Special Representative did not say whether the issue of missing persons was also discussed during the meeting. The visit took place in the days after the Kosovo authorities announced the discovery of human remains in Kalludër, Zubin Potok.
The Danish diplomat does not believe that a public response from him or a special visit to Kosovo over the case would make implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons more effective. He set out this position in his written interview with KosovaPress, several days after Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Agron Bajrami, sent him a letter.
In the letter, Bajrami raised serious concerns about recent developments related to missing persons and called on the EU to ensure Serbia’s full implementation of its commitments. Sorensen did not confirm whether he had responded to the letter.
According to the envoy, the discovery of human remains in Zubin Potok concerns first and foremost the families, who may finally receive an answer after decades of uncertainty and lack of information. He said the EU is closely monitoring the excavation process and the related arrests.
Sorensen said he had called on everyone involved to accelerate the pace and exchange relevant information without delay. He stressed that he raises this issue in Pristina and Belgrade whenever the opportunity arises.
He said that what matters to the families is not merely whether a visit takes place, but whether continued progress is ensured. According to him, the normalization dialogue owes this to those who are still waiting for answers.
Sorensen said the issue of missing persons has been a priority for him since taking office because of its humanitarian importance. He insisted that this issue is not and cannot be used as a bargaining chip in the dialogue.
According to the senior European official, this is a humanitarian obligation that should be assessed solely on the basis of whether the families ultimately receive answers. He added that the power to provide those answers rests with the parties, while the EU remains ready to facilitate the process.
Recalling the obligations undertaken through the Declaration on Missing Persons, Sorensen said the document is clear. Both sides committed to cooperating in identifying burial sites and exchanging all relevant data, including classified materials, needed to locate and identify people who went missing between 1998 and 2000.
He said the European Union expects these commitments to be fully honored. The Joint Commission was established in January 2026 and held its first meeting in Brussels in April. Sorensen said the EU is ready to organize the next meeting as soon as the parties are prepared.
In his assessment, the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue is often measured through dates, photographs and media headlines, although a different approach is needed. Sorensen said he judges the process solely on the results it delivers for the people it is intended to serve. According to him, this standard applies to every aspect, from missing persons and the Ohr Agreement to the pace of the dialogue itself.
