BELGRADE (Serbia), April 3 (SeeNews) – The Council of the European Union has appointed Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcak as EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues, it said on Friday.
The tasks of the new EU special representative will be to achieve comprehensive normalisation of the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, improve good neighbourly relations and reconciliation between partners in the Western Balkans, and contribute to the consistency and effectiveness of EU action in the Western Balkans, the Council of the European Union said in a statement.
Lajcak will take up his duties immediately, with an initial mandate of 12 months.
Lajcak previously served as Slovakia's foreign minister. He was EU special representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2007 to 2009, whilst also acting as the international community’s high representative there.
Last month, Kosovo president Hashim Thaci criticised the potential appointment of Lajcak to the position, as Slovakia is one of the EU member states which does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, along with Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Spain.