Moratinos: Gymnich format for Sarajevo meeting

An agreement has been reached to hold the June conference under the unofficial Gymnich format of "all parties", similar to ministerial meetings of the EU, said the current chairman of the EU Council of Ministers, and added that it meant that participation agreement had been reached with "everyone". 

Moratinos pointed out that it would be a"big conference that would enable reviewing of the results of what had been done after the meeting of the EU-Western Balkans ten years earlier in Zagreb.

"And as such it will be, in a new moment, the future of the relations of the Western Balkan countries and the EU," he was quoted as saying.

"We worked with all actors, we'll organize the conference so everybody will participate. The EU wants that not only 27 countries of the EU take part, but also U.S., the Russian Federation and Turkey, so we would jointly contribute to stability and guarantee a future for the entire Western Balkans region," Moratinos explained.

"I believe that the best contribution of the Spanish EU presidency to the Western Balkans is precisely the conference in Sarajevo," he stressed.

In Strasbourg, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic stated that he had not been informed officially on whether an agreement on a format of participation of Kosovo Albanian authorities in the upcoming ministerial conference European Union-Western Balkans had been reached.

"Although we expect a positive outcome of the talks on the format of the Sarajevo conference, we have yet to be informed officially about a comprehensive solution being reached," Jeremic told Tanjug.

"Our stand has not changed - Pristina has to be presented in keeping with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and in the presence of UNMIK and not as a sovereign state, added Jeremic.

The minister also said that Serbia and Spain, as the main sponsor of the conference, had reached an agreement that he believed would be carried out.