According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, no solution has yet been reached in the talks between the Western Balkan states of Kosovo and Serbia, led by the European Union (EU), to de-escalate the situation. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic could not agree on how to ease tensions in the Serb-majority areas of northern Kosovo, Borrell said. He urged the parties to compromise and warned that any further escalation could “undermine” the implementation of the EU-backed deal to normalize ties.
Vucic and Kurti failed to agree on a framework for securing greater autonomy for Serb-majority communities, which Serbs are demanding as a condition of participation in Kosovo’s institutions. Kurti stated that the draft for greater autonomy for Serb-majority communities presented at Tuesday’s meeting is not in line with Kosovo’s constitution and cannot be accepted. “I am very concerned,” Vucic told reporters. “It is clear that Pristina does not want to fulfill its obligations.”
However, the two parties pledged to cooperate in locating Kosovo War-era graves to identify the remains of over 1,600 people missing from the 1998-99 conflict. Secret documents are also to be exchanged.
