Brussels has warned both Belgrade and Pristina that refusal to compromise jeopardises Serbia and Kosovo’s chances of joining the bloc.
No progress was achieved in implementing the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said Wednesday.
Speaking after meetings with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Borrell said that the European Union will continue to exert all its efforts and capacity to normalise relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
“Kosovo was not ready for this, Kosovo was not willing to do this trilateral meeting. Serbia was ready to do it, but you need two to dance tango and we need two to sit around the table in order to continue the dialogue,” Borrell added.
Serbia and Kosovo leaders were in Brussels for talks to implement an EU-backed plan to normalise ties. However, unresolved issues, including Pristina’s demands that Belgrade hands over the suspected organisers of the Banjska attack, blocked further progress.
The attack took place in the north of Kosovo in September of last year, when dozens of masked gunmen opened fire on a police patrol, killing one officer, followed by a standoff at a nearby Orthodox monastery.
Borrell said Wednesday ahead of the meeting that a new round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina would “hopefully send a different message and end in a different note.”
Following the European elections in June and negotiations on EU top jobs — which are still ongoing — Borrell is likely to be replaced as the bloc’s foreign policy chief by Estonian PM Kaja Kallas later in the year.
Brussels has warned both Belgrade and Pristina that refusal to compromise jeopardises Serbia and Kosovo’s chances of joining the bloc.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence in 2008, a move Belgrade does not recognise.