After the first meeting between prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaçi, on 21 May ended with no tangible result, it seems that the EU's High Representative Catherine Ashton managed "to bring them to reason" on the next one on Wednesday.
Ashton announced late Wednesday that Dačić and Thaçi have "agreed a fixed text which they are now consulting upon".
It seems that the Serbian and Kosovar representatives have finally settled an implementation plan on the agreement reached last month which is expected to be approved by their countries by the end of this week.
In April, Belgrade and Pristina concluded a historical agreement that will permit them to normalise relations and set a path towards European Union membership. According to the deal, facilitated by EU, the authorities in Pristina will assume power over the region of northern Kosovo, while 40,000 local Serbs would be granted with a degree of autonomy in the area.
After the meeting, Prime Minister Dacic told Serbian media that the text of the framework agreement, containing notes about implementation activities and relevant deadlines, will be put to vote at a Serbian government meeting by the end of the week.
He also said it was important for Serbia to reach the implementation agreement before the European Council makes a decision in June about granting Serbia a date for the start of EU membership talks because it a clear signal had to be sent that both sides are ready to implement the agreement on the normalisation of relations.
Serbian media report that according to the agreement reached last night, an interim body composed of the presidents of the four municipalities in northern Kosovo will be formed, with responsibilities that will be taken over by the Association of Serb municipalities after local elections.
Among other things, this body will be authorised to prepare a statute for the association of Serb municipalities and, according to Article 9 in the agreement on normalisation of relations, elect an acting regional police chief.
