EU-led Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue makes no substantial progress

Europe, News August 20, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Joseph Borrell facilitated the meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minster Albin Kurti on August 18.

The EU-led dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was initiated in 2011 to normalize the relations between the two Balkan countries. The two leaders met for the latest installment of the peace talks in Brussels as the border conflict situation continues to worsen. The last talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo took place in July 2021.

The meeting, chaired by Borrell, was also attended by the NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and EU’s Special Representative for Serbia and Kosovo. The meeting aimed at defusing the tensions between the two countries especially after some violent incidents took place on Kosovo’s northern border with Serbia.

While speaking at the end of the talks in Brussels, Joseph Borrell spoke with the media and stated that “Unhappily, we did not get to an agreement today… But it is not the end of the story. The discussion will resume in the coming days. I don’t give up.” Borrell did not elaborate on the nature of obstacles that hurdled the talks between the two leaders.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Most of the UN member states including the U.S., Germany, France, and the UK recognize Kosovo as an independent state. However, Serbia still declares Kosovo to be its own territory and deeply resents its breakaway status.

^{Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti(L), EU Special Representative of Europe Miroslav Lajcak, High Representative of the EU for Foreign and Security Policy Joseph Borrell, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R) in Brussels on August 18, 2022. (Image Credit: European Commission/via BalkanInsight)}

The recent wave of violence in Kosovo is a result of protests by the ethnic Serbs after Kosovo postponed implementing the new border rules that were supposed to make it easier for the Serbs and Albanian ethnic minorities to cross the northern border into Serbia. On July 31, unidentified gunmen fired on police igniting nationwide road blocking.

A new wave of violence has erupted in Kosovo in recent weeks prompting NATO to deploy 3700 peacekeeping soldiers in the country. NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg stated after attending the meeting that NATO would take “any measure that is necessary to ensure a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all the people of Kosovo”.

Neither Vucic nor Kurti did not release any statement about the meeting or spoke to the media after the meeting took place. The two leaders also met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Gabriel Escobar in Brussels on August 19. Escobar handles the U.S. policy for Western Balkans. He was also present during the previous Serbia-Kosovo talks.