2023-05-07 20:28:26
National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) sets out on a trip to three countries in the Western Balkans on Monday. The aim of the trip to Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro is to “further intensify the parliamentary dialogue and expand bilateral relations between our countries even more,” said Sobotka in the run-up to the APA. The focus is also on EU enlargement.
In Kosovo, the President of the National Council will meet Parliament President Glauk Konjufca, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and KFOR Commander Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia. The NATO-led protection force KFOR currently has around 3,800 members, including more than 400 Austrian army soldiers.
Sobotka will also hold talks with his counterparts in Montenegro and Serbia. A meeting with President Aleksandar Vučić is also planned for Belgrade. The program also includes visits to the democracy workshops of the parliaments. The one in Podgorica is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.
While Montenegro and Serbia are already EU accession candidates, Kosovo is classified as a so-called potential accession candidate, but will be granted visa-free status for the Schengen zone by January 1, 2024 at the latest. The ongoing dispute between the former Yugoslav republic of Serbia and its former province of Kosovo is an obstacle on the way for both states to join the European Union. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Tensions with the Serbian minority in northern Kosovo have repeatedly arisen.
In March, the governments in Pristina and Belgrade agreed to implement a Western-backed plan to improve relations, but little progress has been made since then. “We have a path towards normalization. But this path is mined, and we must avoid stepping on one of these mines, because that might explode the whole process,” said EU special envoy for the dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina Miroslav recently Lajčák.
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