He was in Prishtina at the end of July, but the office of the European Union’s Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Peter Sørensen, did not announce whether he raised the issue of missing persons during his meeting with Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. This came despite the fact that, during those days, Kosovo authorities announced the discovery of human remains in Kalludër, Zubin Potok.

However, the Danish diplomat himself does not believe that a public statement by him, or even a visit to Kosovo specifically for this case, would contribute to more effective implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons.

He made this clear in a written interview with the KosovaPress News Agency, a few days after Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Agron Bajrami, sent him a letter expressing serious concerns over recent developments concerning missing persons and calling on the EU to ensure that Serbia fully implements its commitments. The envoy also did not confirm whether he had responded to the letter.

“The discovery of human remains in Zubin Potok is, first and foremost, about families who may finally receive an answer after decades of not knowing. We follow the excavation and the related arrests closely. I have made clear to all that the pace must accelerate and that relevant information must be shared without delay. I raise this in Pristina and in Belgrade at every opportunity,” he said in his responses to KosovaPress. “What matters to the families is not a single visit but steady progress – that is what a dialogue on normalisation owes to those still waiting.”

Sørensen says that, because of its humanitarian importance, the issue of missing persons has been a priority since he took office.

“It is not, and cannot be, a bargaining chip in the Dialogue. It is a humanitarian obligation, and I judge it by one measure only: whether families finally get answers. The power to provide those answers rests with the Parties. We stand ready to facilitate,” the senior European official says.

He therefore recalls the obligations undertaken by the parties through the “Declaration on Missing Persons.”

“The Declaration on Missing Persons is unambiguous: both Parties committed to cooperate on identifying burial sites and to share all relevant information – including classified material – needed to locate and identify those who went missing between 1998 and 2000. The EU expects these commitments to be honoured in full. The Joint Commission was established in January 2026 and met for the first time in Brussels in April. We are ready to host the next meeting when the Parties are,” he responds.

According to him, the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue is often judged through dates, photographs and news headlines, but it should be different.

“I judge it by one measure only: whether it delivers for the people it is meant to serve. That standard runs through everything from Missing Persons to the Ohrid Agreement to the pace of the Dialogue itself,” he says.

He insists that both parties have an international obligation to implement the Ohrid Agreement, even though Albin Kurti and Aleksandar Vucic may argue that they did not sign the deal.

The Danish diplomat makes this very clear in a written interview with the KosovaPress News Agency.

“But let me be precise on one point, because it is often misunderstood: the 2023 Ohrid Agreement is legally binding under international law, with or without signatures. Consent to be bound does not require a signature – it can be expressed by other means, and here it was,” he said in responses regarding the level of implementation of this agreement between the prime minister of Kosovo and the president of Serbia. “Both Parties agreed to the text in Ohrid and did not object when the EU set out how their consent would be recorded.”

He further recalls that the “High Representative himself confirmed in writing the binding nature of the Agreement on March 18, 2023, and this has been the EU’s position ever since.”

At the same time, he acknowledges that “its implementation remains below where it should be,” and says he has told this “publicly and repeatedly” to both Belgrade and Pristina, as well as to the European Commission and EU member states.

“What is missing is not signatures – it is implementation. That is where the energy should go,” Sørensen writes.

He therefore says he has heard Kosovo’s concerns and considered ways to further consolidate the Agreement. However, according to him, this should serve as an “incentive for implementation, not as a substitute for it.”

With this logic, the Dialogue facilitator says he also approaches the “High-Level Meeting” when asked whether there is a date for the next meeting between Kurti and Vucic.

“It is not a reward and not a photo opportunity. It is convened when it can help produce something, and the High Representative stands ready to convene one when both leaders are ready to deliver,” Sørensen told KosovaPress.

However, the European envoy does not give a positive answer when asked whether the European Union has a deadline or a target for concluding the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue process.

“I don’t have a date to announce for the next meeting of the Chief Negotiators. Preparations continue and I am in regular contact with both delegations to identify when a meeting can produce results. Nor will I set a deadline for concluding the Dialogue as a whole: what matters is that both Parties implement what they have already agreed. Progress, not the calendar, is my measure,” the diplomat says.

He recalls that the High-Level Meeting serves political engagement in the normalization process, and therefore “the absence of the Prime Minister would not move forward the process of accountability.” He said this when asked about Kurti’s position that one of his conditions for participating in another High-Level Meeting is the extradition of Milan Radoičić from Serbia to Kosovo.

“Accountability for Banjska is crucial. The EU’s call has been clear and constant, and we repeat it in every interaction with the Serbian authorities: we expect Belgrade to apprehend and bring to justice the perpetrators of the 2023 attacks,” he reiterates, restating the Union’s position.