Thaci and Dacic met in Brussels

Brussels, 12 February, 2014

On 12 February, 2014, both sides said they have made substantial progress in discussions on the judicial system in northern Kosovo. The new round of talks between Kosovo and Serbia on the normalization of relations between them ended in Brussels. The central topic of discussion was the issue of courts in Serb-majority northern Kosovo.

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci immediately after the meeting said that progress had been made.

“We have approximations of positions and we have discussed all things regarding the functioning of the justice system and all these approximations have been made in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kosovo. “We are waiting in the coming days to finalize the agreement here in Brussels”, said Thaçi.

Whereas, the Serbian Prime Minister, Ivica Dacic said that “In Mitrovica there should be a court whose authority will include seven municipalities, but a court unit should be in accordance with the population structure in that area “.

At the January 27th meeting, the parties did not agree on this issue as Pristina insisted that the Basic Court in Mitrovica will include the four Serb-majority municipalities and three Albanian-majority municipalities.

Serbia opened membership negotiations with the European Union on January 21st as a reward for its commitment to the process of normalizing relations with Kosovo, whose independence it continues to oppose. Talks with Serbia enabled Kosovo to open stabilization and association negotiations with the European Union in October 2013