The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo on Saturday, after talks in North Macedonia under the auspices of Europe, failed to reach an agreement on the normalization of relations between them. These negotiations took place after the failure of the Brussels talks and against the background of increased European pressure on Belgrade and Pristina to reach a settlement that would ease tensions between the two countries and the difficult relationship between them. North Macedonia hosted the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia on Saturday for these new and difficult negotiations to normalize bilateral relations under the auspices of the European Union, which has recently increased pressure on both sides.
The meeting took place on the shores of Lake Ohrid in the southwest of the small Balkan country after the collapse of talks in Brussels last month that unveiled a European peace plan.
European Union foreign policy coordinator Josep Borrell has once again tried to bring Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic closer together after more than two decades of bloody war between Kosovo separatists and Serbian forces. The 11-article European document stipulates that both sides “mutually recognize their respective national documents and symbols” and that they will not use violence to resolve their differences. The document also states that “Serbia will not object to Kosovo’s accession to an international organization.” He also proposes to grant “an appropriate level of autonomy” to the Kosovo Serb minority.
Serbia has long refused to recognize Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, when sporadic riots broke out between Belgrade and its former breakaway province.
