Establishment of European Union Mechanism for Oversight of Serbia-Kosovo Agreement

The European Union established a joint mechanism to supervise the Ohrid Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo to normalize relations.

The office of the European Union’s foreign policy coordinator, Josep Borrell, said the mechanism was set up to oversee the implementation of the agreement, which is facilitated by the European Union as a facilitator of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

The Joint Monitoring Committee will be chaired by the EU Special Representative for the Dialogue Process and Other Regional Affairs for the Western Balkans, Miroslav Lajcak.

Kosovo will be represented by Ambassador Agron Bajrami in Brussels and chief negotiator Petar Petkovic for Serbia.

The committee will meet regularly in Brussels and job descriptions will be decided on May 2 at a meeting.

Serbia and Kosovo reached an agreement on February 27 to sign a proposal to normalize relations after a meeting in Brussels.

The agreement came after 12 hours of talks between Albanian Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and EU officials.

The two sides later agreed on how to implement the agreement in the last round of talks on March 18 in North Macedonia.

The 11-point agreement required that the two sides maintain good neighborly relations and recognize each other’s documents such as passports and license plates.

The EU-led Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue began in 2011 and aims to find a mutually acceptable solution to disputes within the framework of a legally binding agreement.

The European Union calls on Kosovo and Serbia to reach a final agreement and resolve differences to make progress in their integration into the bloc.

Most UN member states, including the US, UK, France, Germany and Turkey, have recognized Kosovo as a separate country after it declared independence from Serbia 15 years ago. Serbia, however, still considers it its territory.