A crisis meeting with the EU on Thursday did not bring a solution to the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo for the time being. However, the two ministers agreed to continue the talks in the coming days. There is no alternative to dialogue, said Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief.
“Today there is no agreement, but we are not giving up,” Borrell said on Thursday after hours of talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Brussels. There is still time until September 1.
New access rules postponed
Borrell was referring to the deadline for the new entry rules for Serbs to come into effect. The government of Kosovo originally planned to introduce this on August 1, but was postponed by a month due to pressure from the EU and the US. Tensions in northern Kosovo on the Serbian border are said to have escalated about three weeks ago. In protest, people have erected barricades and fired at the police.
For example, it is planned in detail that Serbian identity documents will no longer be recognized at border crossings, although it is possible to have a provisional document issued. Conversely, people in Kosovo must have had such a document for a long time if they want to go to Serbia. The country does not recognize Kosovo’s independence.
“I think both President Vucic and Prime Minister Kurti understood that there is no alternative to dialogue to solve this problem,” said EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell. The current tensions are a symptom “of the wider issue of unresolved status” in the relationship between Serbia and Kosovo.
EU accession as a goal
Borrell made it clear to the two politicians that EU accession must remain the long-term goal. The first step on this common path is now a solution to the current situation. The EU has been trying to improve relations between the two governments for years. Kosovo, now almost exclusively inhabited by Albanians, seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence in 2008. More than 100 countries, including Austria, do not recognize independence, five EU countries and others do not.
Source: Krone
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