Failure of negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo

Progress, but not yet agreed. The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia failed, on Saturday March 18, to sign an agreement on the normalization of their relations, which have remained complicated since the end of the war in 1999. It must be said that Serbia refuses to recognize independence proclaimed in 2008 by its former province, whose population of 1.8 million inhabitants, overwhelmingly of Albanian origin, includes a Serbian community of approximately 120,000 people.

Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Saturday for twelve hours of negotiations on the shores of Lake Ohrid, in North Macedonia, under the leadership of the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. Despite the failure of negotiations, the latter hailed progress between the former enemies. He congratulated the press that the two camps had accepted the annex in question but admitted that Belgrade and Pristina had gone less far than hoped. “The parties could not find a mutually acceptable solution as ambitious as the one we proposed”he told the press without taking any questions.

Persistent tensions between Pristina and Belgrade

In recent months, the West has increased pressure on Belgrade and Pristina to prevent a possible outbreak of tensions in the fragile Balkan region as war rages in Ukraine. Brussels wanted the agreement of the two parties on an appendix for the application of this European proposal aimed at normalizing relations between Serbia and its former province.

The European proposal stipulates that the two camps will not use violence to resolve their differences. The draft would lead to de facto recognition between Belgrade and Pristina as it foresees that the two parties “will mutually recognize their respective national documents and symbols”.

The text also states that “Serbia will not oppose Kosovo joining an international organization”, a key request from Pristina. At the same time, he proposes granting “an appropriate level of self-management” for the Serb minority in Kosovo.