Macedonian Foreign Minister, Bujar Osmani, estimated that progress in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia could take its final form in the upcoming round of negotiations in Ohrid, on March 18. 

In an interview with the Racin.mk portal, he said that there are two potentially weak links in the Western Balkans, the Kosovo-Serbia dispute and difficulties in the functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointing out that closing one of them will be a significant step in the final stabilization of the region. 

“There are two potential weak links, weak points in the region. One is the Kosovo-Serbia dispute, and the other is BiH and the difficulties in the functioning of the Dayton Agreement. Closing one of these two issues will be a significant step in the final stabilization of the region, in reconciliation and further Euro-Atlantic consolidation,” said Osmani. 

According to him, “the fact that serious progress has now been made in Brussels and the fact that this progress can take its final form in Ohrid, first of all, has its symbolism due to the success of the Ohrid Agreement, which offers a model for solving ethnic issues and is a recognition of North Macedonia.” 

The head of the European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said in Brussels, on Monday, February 27, after the last round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, that the leaders of the two sides agreed that no further talks are needed on the EU proposal for the normalization of relations, but that additional negotiations are needed on implementation modalities. 

The Macedonian Prime Minister’s Cabinet confirmed the next day that Kovacevski is ready to host the meeting between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, as part of the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina under the auspices of the EU and the USA, on March 18. 

As announced, the EU High Representative for Common Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell, and the EU Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajcak, will attend that meeting.