Acceptance of EU plan would mean acceptance of Community - EU official

BRUSSELS - In case Belgrade and Pristina accept an EU plan on normalisation of relations at Monday's meeting in Brussels, that will also mean automatic acceptance of the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, a high-ranking EU official who wished to remain unnamed said on Friday.

The official said the EU had decided to host the Brussels meeting as part of high-level dialogue following signals from Belgrade and Pristina that both sides would back the EU proposal, as stated on multiple occasions in discussions with representatives of the international community.

That inspires optimism that the proposal could be accepted on Monday, the official told reporters in Brussels.

The official said the meeting would not deal with the contents of the proposal but only with its implementation, addressed in a separate annex, and added that the implementation would take months and be monitored by the EU, which would set up an implementation mechanism.

The EU proposal is comprehensive and leads to a "comprehensive legally binding agreement on normalisation of relations between the two sides," the official said.

He added that accepting the EU proposal would be good for the whole region and that it would boost investments and financial assistance, also leading to more stability and predictability.