Conflict between Kosovo and Serbia: Kurti accuses Laičak of coordinating position with President Vučić

Kurti claims that Laičak “coordinated” his position with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić during the talks held in Brussels last week, which were arranged through the EU.

On the other hand, the EU’s top representative for foreign affairs, Giuseppe Borel, who oversaw the negotiations in Brussels, blamed Kurti for their failure, who insisted that Serbia should recognize Kosovo’s independence before proceeding with the implementation of the agreement reached in February.

Borel has warned that the lack of progress could harm both Serbia’s and Kosovo’s efforts to join the EU.

Serbia effectively lost control of predominantly Albanian Kosovo in 1999 following NATO’s military intervention in the Kosovo conflict, but in 2008 Pristina unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. However, Belgrade still considers the former province part of its territory.

Last November, tensions rose again in the predominantly Serb northern part of Kosovo, when several hundred ethnic Serbs walked out of their jobs in the local administration to protest Pristina’s new order banning the use of Serbian-issued license plates in Kosovo.

In February, the EU proposed a ten-point plan to de-escalate tensions, and at the time Kurti and Vučić generally accepted the plan, with some objections that remain unresolved.

2023-09-18 19:24:00
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