Serbia and Kosovo failed to reach an agreement in Brussels on Monday over the enrollment crisis that led to a worsening of tension between the Balkan country and its former province, despite attempts at mediation by the European Union.
“After many hours of discussion…the two sides could not agree on a solution today,” European Union (EU) diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement to the media.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed the lack of an agreement to overcome the latest crisis between Belgrade and Pristina, and accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of intransigence.
“We have absolutely no deal”Vucic said in statements in Brussels to Serbian media, accusing the Albanian leader of “lack of a constructive spirit” after an hours-long rally in the Belgian capital.
Vucic and Kurti met at a meeting organized by European Union (EU) diplomatic chief Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, Special Envoy for Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue.
“Today it was clear to the EU and the world who was constructive, who wanted an agreement and the preservation of peace and stability, and who did not,” assured Vucic, who also admitted that “very difficult days” lie ahead.
Vucic and Kurti should reach an agreement under the auspices of the EU to overcome the crisis of vehicle registrations circulating in the former Serbian province and prevent a possible deterioration.
“The urgent reduction of tension was a matter for the two leaders. Unfortunately, they failed to agree on a solution today.” Borrel said in a statement to the media after eight hours of meetings between the two leaders.”I think there is an important responsibility on the part of both leaders for the failure of today’s talks and for any escalation and violence that may occur on the ground in the coming days.”🇧🇷
Ongoing tensions between Serbia and its former southern Albanian-majority province have worsened in recent weeks following the Kosovo government’s decision to ban the circulation of number plates issued in Serbia.
Pristina’s ultimatum expired on Monday, but Kosovo Serbs – a minority in Kosovo and mainly concentrated in the north, near the border with Serbia – continue to reject the move, which they see as a way to reduce their rights.
According to this ban, about 6,300 Kosovo Serbs who have vehicles with license plates deemed illegal by Pristina must be notified by Monday and then fined if they fail to meet the required standard. For example, the Albanian authorities assured that from Monday they would impose a fine of 150 euros for using Serbian number plates, common among the Serbian population in the north of the territory.
Pristina also indicated that from April 21 it will only be allowed to drive with temporary number plates issued by the Kosovar Albanian authorities.
On November 5, ten Serbian MPs, ten prosecutors and 576 police officers from the Mitrovica region, in northern Kosovo, resigned their posts in protest against this decision, which they held under the guaranteed agreements, in protest against the ultimatum. sponsored “normalization dialogue”, while tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets.
Representatives of Kosovo Serbs also demand that Pristina respect a crucial point of the 2013 agreement signed in Brussels concerning the establishment of an association of Serb municipalities, and which provides for a relative degree of autonomy.
Belgrade never recognized Kosovo’s 2008 secession, which was declared after a bloody war that began with an Albanian armed uprising in 1997 that left 13,000 dead, mostly Albanians, and led to a NATO military intervention against Serbia in 1999, despite the UN.
Since then, the region has recorded sporadic conflicts between the two main local communities, in a country with a third of the area of the Alentejo and a population of about 1.7 million, the vast majority of ethnic Albanians and Muslims.
Independent Kosovo has been recognized by about 100 countries, including the US, which retains strong influence over the Kosovo leadership, and most EU member states, with the exception of Spain, Romania, Greece, Slovakia and Cyprus.
Serbia continues to view Kosovo as an integral part of its territory and Belgrade benefits from the support of Russia and China, which, like dozens of other countries (including India, Brazil or South Africa), also did not recognize Kosovo’s independence.
The EU considers the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo as a precondition for eventual membership. However, the Brussels-brokered negotiations are still deadlocked, raising fears of a return to instability more than two decades after the end of the conflict.
Source: DN
