The Council of the European Union (EU) on Monday appointed Danish diplomat Peter Sorensen as EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.

The tasks of the new EU Special Representative will be to facilitate the dialogue that will contribute to a comprehensive normalization of the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and in particular the implementation of the Agreement on the Path to Normalization and its Implementation Annex adopted in February and March 2023, the Council said in a press release.

Sorensen will take up his duties on 1st February 2025, with an initial mandate of 13 months, it said.

Sorensen is a Danish diplomat with extensive experience, including from the Western Balkans region. He served from 2011 to 2014 as EU Special Representative/Head of Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and has additionally held positions as EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation in Skopje and Head of Delegation in Geneva. In the latter, Sorensen represented the EU to the United Nations organization in Geneva, including as the Union’s representative to the UN Human Rights Council.

The EU said its Special Representatives promote the EU’s policies and interests in certain regions and countries as well as issues of particular concern or interest for the EU. They play an active role in efforts to consolidate reforms, stability and the rule of law, the Council said, noting that the first EU Special Representatives were appointed in 1996.

Currently, eleven EUSRs support the work of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.