Serbia and Kosovo leaders to Brussels to resume dialogue
| Source: AP
Brussels
The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo will come to Brussels on August 18 to discuss their protracted conflict. Both Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti have started the invitation of EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Borrells says. “This is an important step and gives us the opportunity to move the dialogue forward.”
Since 2011, the EU has been facilitating an often interrupted “open dialogue on all open issues”. This should lead to a binding agreement on the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. However, the two leaders have not wanted to speak to each other in Brussels for more than a year. On Monday, Borrell invited them again, for a “calming conversation to avoid escalation” and to make another attempt at reconciliation.
In recent weeks, tensions in the border region above Kosovo have sought to force Serbs living in the country to apply for Kosovar license plates. Serb residents blocked a number of local border crossings. Serbian soldiers cleared roadblocks over Kosovo announcing plans to postpone until September 1.
Kosovo, which gained independence in 2008 after fighting a war with Serbia in the late 1990s, wants to become an EU member. As a candidate country, Serbia has been negotiating this with Brussels since January 2014. It could take years for Kosovo to get there. The country is recognized by a large number of countries, including the Netherlands, but not by a number of EU countries, as well as non-EU countries.