Thewesternbalkans
A scheduled meeting between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo aimed at renewing of the process of talks on the normalization of relations between the two countries failed to take place in Brussels on June 26 amid continued signs of animosity on both sides.
Both Serbia President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti had separate meetings with EU representatives, but according to EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, “no progress in implementation of the agreement could be achieved.”
According to Borell, during the bilateral meetings, Kurti presented three conditions for further engagement in the process of normalizing relations with Serbia. First, the formalization of the Basic Agreement through signature by the respective heads of state. The second, the withdrawal of the official letter submitted to the EU by the former Serbian prime minister, Ana Brnabić, on December 13, 2023. And the third, the handover of Millan Radoicić and his paramilitary terrorist group to the judicial authorities of Kosovo.
After his bilateral meeting with Borell and Lajčak, Vucic blamed Kurti for the talks failing to take place, saying his counterpart “didn’t want to see me.”
On the other hand, Kurti explained that the conditions he presented were “guarantees of good faith and goodwill that would enable the implementation of the agreement.”
Comment: There were never high expectations for this meeting. The European Union wanted to organize the round to renew the talks that appear to many observers to be on life support.
The last time leaders met was in September 2023 before the attack in northern Kosovo on September 24, by armed ethnic Serbs on a Kosovo police patrol, killing one of the officers.
Since then, relations between Pristina and Belgrade have further deteriorated, with each side taking actions to show firmness in their positions. The Kosovo government made the euro its only legal currency recognized in its territory in February — effectively outlawing the use of the Serbian dinar currency and have closed the vault of the Savings Bank of the Post of Serbia and its five other offices in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo. In response, Belgrade prevented the Kosovo’s membership in Council of Europe.
