One day after meeting leaders in Serbia, the US envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Gabriel Escobar, held separate meetings in Kosovo with the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, PM Albin Kurti and Speaker of Parliament, Glauk Konjufca.

In the only declaration he gave after meeting President Osmani, Escobar stated that he expects a positive result at Saturday’s meeting in Ohrid, North Macedonia.

“I am very optimistic about a peaceful solution between Kosovo and Serbia and I hope that after Saturday we will have good results,” he told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Osmani said Escobar’s visit had reaffirmed their common commitment to make progress in the EU-led dialogue.

Osmani said Kosovo will continue to engage in dialogue with Serbia with full commitment and a constructive approach. “Kosovo goes to Ohrid with this mindset and with the hope for a positive result,” she added, adding that the agreement includes principles of international law that will pave the way to mutual recognition.

Head of the parliament Konjufca said that, unlike Serbia, Kosovo had played a constructive role in the dialogue, after meeting Escobar.

“We will never lose focus from full recognition, and any agreement that can be reached in the dialogue process with Serbia must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and constitutional order of the Republic of Kosovo,” Konjufca wrote on Facebook.

After the meeting with PM Kurti, there were no declarations for the media. 

The Kosovo government has confirmed that it is analyzing some 15 models of associations operating around the world, to see which one would be most suitable for creating the planned Association of Serbian-majority Municipalities in Kosovo. Prishtina Insight asked to know which models the government is considering, but by time of publication, it had not responded.  

Ahead of meetings in Kosovo, Escobar met leaders in Serbia. Afterwards, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that they had an “open and correct conversation”.

However, in a media conference later on Thursday, Vucic said that he “does not plan to sign anything” in Ohrid, but added: “When someone signs something, I will sign it, and the people will decide on it,” reported REL.

 The main discussion topic of the meeting in Ohrid will be the implementation of the European Union plan for normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations, known as the Franco-German plan and then EU plan.

The tripartite meeting of February 27 in Brussels  did not result in signatures to the EU plan.