The EU proposed that Kosovo start the process of establishing an association of Serb-majority municipalities. The two leaders held separate bilateral meetings with Borrell and the EU's special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, followed by a joint trilateral meeting where they discussed the implementation of an EU-sponsored plan to normalize relations after decades of tensions.
The September 14 talks were the first face-to face conversations between them since clashes erupted in northern Kosovo in late May, further straining relations between the two countries. Vucic and Kurti were in Brussels for talks under the so-called Belgrade-Pristina dialogue process, supervised by Borrell. Kurti also claimed the European Union had sided with Belgrade, saying Brussels "only adopted Serbia's conditionality" of establishing an association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, which was "unacceptable" to Pristina. Kurti, for his part, blamed the Serbian side, saying that there was "full readiness" from Kosovo to work out an agreement and alleging that Vucic had "sabotaged" the talks. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who accepted the compromise offer presented by the EU, said the talks were "unsuccessful," blaming Kurti for the lack of progress. "Kurti was not ready to take a step forward,” Borrell said, adding that the Kosovar leader "insisted instead on formalizing de facto recognition as the first step."
In 2008, nearly a decade after a bloody war, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, but Belgrade has refused to recognize the move. However, Kosovo has insisted that Serbia first recognize its independence before relations with its Balkan neighbor can be normalized. The renewed effort came after the EU worked out a plan early this year that it had hoped would break the stalemate.
The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo failed to reach an agreement for improving bilateral relations during EU-mediated talks in Brussels on September 14.Įuropean Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that "we tried hard but, unfortunately, it was not possible to bridge the differences today."īorrell, who mediated the negotiations and has said he sees resolving the long-running dispute between Belgrade and Pristina as essential to their efforts to join the European Union, said that Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti rejected Brussels' compromise proposal.
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