Serbia and Kosovo leaders meet in Brussels to normalize ties

Europe, News May 2, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

President of Serbia Alexander Vucic met with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Brussels on April 2, 2023. The meeting, arranged and mediated by the European Union, aims to discuss a way forward on critical issues as tensions remain high.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Joseph Borrell convened the high-level meeting between the two Balkan leaders. This is the first time that the two leaders have met since the European Union gave its 11-point plan to normalize the ties between Kosovo and Serbia.

During the meeting, two particularly delicate issues came under discussion. The endorsement for the declaration on missing persons and the first draft statute on the creation of an association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo, which was once part of Serbia and whose overall population is more than 90% ethnic Albanian.

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo agreed to cooperate on resolving cases of missing persons. According to a statement, the case of the missing person issue was “a humanitarian one” and called for the “urgent need for additional efforts to alleviate the human suffering of the families”.

Borrell said in a statement, “Resolving the issue of missing persons is not only a humanitarian obligation. It is also a crucial enabler for reconciliation and trust between people.”

According to EU Foreign Policy Chief Borrell, despite having different views on the establishment of an association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo agreed to start negotiations “in the near future.”

Borrell’s envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina Miroslav Lajcak said that the meeting is “a crucial step forward, and it’s important to avoid any actions that could worsen the atmosphere.” Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU has increased its efforts to resolve the issues between Serbia and Kosovo in order to restrain the conflicts from spreading and merging into the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti(L) Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic(R) — *^{Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti (L) Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R). (Image Credit: Twitter/@predsednikrs/Reuters)}*

This is not the first time that the meeting between the two Balkan leaders is being convened by the EU. A similar arrangement was made in February this year, which ended without any substantial progress.

Serbia’s former province of Kosovo declared independence in 2008 following the 1998-1999 war. Most of Kosovo’s population consists of the Albanian ethnic group, while Serbs account for the second largest ethnic group in the country. Half of Kosovo’s Serb population lives in the northern part and refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence. Most of the others, in other parts of the country including Shterpce, recognize the government and participate in political life.

A new wave of violence has erupted in Kosovo in the last few months prompting NATO to deploy 3700 peacekeeping soldiers in the country.

Earlier this year, the Serbian government asked NATO’s peacekeeping commander to allow the country to send up to 1,000 police and army personnel to Kosovo in order to maintain stability and avoid clashes after the clashes between Kosovo authorities and the Serb population in the northern region, where they constitute a majority. However, NATO has declined Serbia’s request to send troops to Kosovo due to fears of escalation.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have applied to join the European Union. The two countries have been told to normalize relations if they want to advance toward EU membership. EU has also proposed an 11-point action plan for the two countries to seek normalization between the two states.