Community of Municipalities toughest part of Brussels meeting - EU official

BRUSSELS - A high-ranking EU official who wished to remain unnamed said a Brussels meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Pristina's PM Albin Kurti next Monday would be the first to focus on an EU proposal on normalisation of relations that was a de facto recognition.

At a press briefing, the official said the proposal included an annex on implementation and that a Community of Serb Municipalities was expected to be the most difficult part of the Brussels discussions.

"We need to break the vicious circle of crises," the official said, noting that there had been six crises in Kosovo-Metohija in the second half of last year.

"This proposal is a de facto recognition. It contains a lot of substance that should relax the atmosphere across the region and also remove hurdles to regional cooperation. In the geopolitical sense, it sends the message the EU will not allow Russia to destabilise the Balkans and that the Balkans is a part of Europe, not only declaratively," he said.

He said the proposal aimed to set Belgrade-Pristina relations upon a new, firm foundation with a view forward to a comprehensive agreement.

"This is not the final proposal and not the end of the path. The end of the path is a comprehensive agreement for full normalisation of relations," the official said.