The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo moved closer to a deal on normalizing ties as pressure rises from the US and the European Union for them to end a dispute that has smoldered since they fought a 1998-1999 war.
(Bloomberg) — The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo moved closer to a deal on normalizing ties as pressure rises from the US and the European Union for them to end a dispute that has smoldered since they fought a 1998-1999 war.
With the war in Ukraine now in its second year with no end in sight, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti are facing a push by Washington and Brussels to ease the dispute that has threatened the region’s stability.
After sitting down to EU-sponsored talks in Brussels on Monday, Vucic and Kurti didn’t announce an agreement. EU foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell, however, said they would hold further negotiations to decide on steps to implement a proposal from the bloc aimed at healing the rift. No further talks on the actual proposal were needed, he said.
“Progress was made today,” Borrell said. “At the same time more work is needed to ensure that what was accepted today by the parties will be implemented.”
While the details of the plan haven’t been released, media in the region published leaks showing it’s aimed at leading to the gradual development of relations based on respect for territorial integrity, the sanctity of borders and a degree of some autonomy for ethnic Serbs still living in Kosovo.
That would be a sea change in relations under which Serbia currently does not recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty.
Both parties agreed to refrain from any actions to renew tensions on the ground, Borrell said.
Talks will take place in mid March, Vucic said, adding that he expected “many more” sessions. Still, disagreement remained over a proposal to give Serbs still living in Kosovo autonomy, he said.
“I hope we will be able to reach a compromise, but I’m afraid we could also get stuck,” he said.
The acrimony between the neighbors has effectively prevented them from progressing toward EU membership.
Left outside of the EU’s single market, Serbia and Kosovo fall well below the bloc’s average in living standards, with widespread poverty and corruption.
Belgrade considers Kosovo, a mostly Muslim nation of roughly 1.8 million, part of its territory and the religious and cultural heartland of the Serb nation.
While the new plan reportedly doesn’t call for Serbia’s acknowledgment of Kosovo, it is seen as a stepping stone for the normalization ties.
It may also lead, eventually, to Kosovo’s inclusion in international bodies, which Serbia has spent decades trying to prevent along with its allies China and Russia.
The talks follow a period of escalating tension between Kosovo and Serbia, with Vucic accusing Kurti’s administration in Pristina of violating previous EU-brokered agreements to give Serbs more say over how they’re governed.
For his part, Kurti angered Kosovo’s minority Serb population by moving to enforce rules that require all citizens to acquire documents and license plates issued in Pristina rather than Belgrade.
The push for a document switch triggered protests last year in which ethnic Serbs erected barricades to block border crossings between Serbia and Kosovo.
(Updates with Borrell, more details, starting in fifth paragraph.)
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