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EU says Serbia, Kosovo stop short of deal to normalize ties

March 19, 2023

Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said after marathon 12-hour talks an agreement had been reached. After decades of tensions, the deal, which leaders did not sign, is sure to come up again in future negotiations.

https://p.dw.com/p/4OtTJ
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks to media, in Ohrid
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the media he had not yet signed the agreementImage: Ognen Teofilovski/REUTERS

Serbian and Kosovar leaders have reached a framework agreement on how to implement an EU-brokered plan to normalize relations, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrrell announced Saturday following marathon talks lasting 12 hours in Ohrid, North Macedonia.

Still missing though was the implementation agreement, signatures of the two leaders and a significant breakthrough to ease years of tension between Serbia and Kosovo.

At a news conference in Ohrid, Borrell said Serbian leader Alexander Vucic and Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti "reached an agreement on how to do it."

"The parties were not able to find a mutually acceptable solution as ambitious as we were providing or proposing," Borrell said, adding, "It is about the stability, the security and the prosperity of the whole region." 

Though neither side put pen to paper to sign it. Vucic and Kurti also continued to trade insults, blaming each other for the lack of progress.

What led up to this moment?

Last month, both sides hammered out an EU-backed 11-point plan to normalize relations.

The move to ease tensions comes after years of disputes following open conflict in the late 1990s.

In 1998-1999, Serbia responded with force when Albanians, who form the majority in Kosovo, rebelled against Belgrade. Nearly 13,000 people died, most of them ethnic Albanians.

NATO's military intervention in 1999 forced Serbia to withdraw, though NATO maintains a peacekeeping presence.

In 2008, Kosovo declared itself independent from Serbia.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have said they aspire to join the European Union. To do so, they must repair relations with one another.

Albin Kurti: 'Serbia is not a normal democratic country'

Resolving the dispute has become more urgent in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and wider concerns about Russia's reach potentially destabilizing the western Balkans.

What do we know about the de facto yet unsigned agreement?

The draft agreement, provided by Germany and France, calls for Serbia and Kosovo to maintain good neighborly relations. They must also recognize each other's official documents and national symbols.

The US supports the agreement, which stops short of seeing Serbia and Kosovo provide diplomatic recognition.

If implemented, Belgrade would not block Kosovo's attempts to seek membership in the UN and other multilateral institutions.

Under pressure from far-right groups in Serbia, Vucic appeared to backtrack after agreeing to the initial document last month.

Serbian nationalists consider Kosovo the birthplace of the nation and the country's Orthodox Christian church. Roughly 120,000 ethnic Serbs remain in Kosovo, most of whom continue to identify with Belgrade over Prishtina.

On Thursday, Vucic said he "won't sign anything" in Ohrid. Earlier, he vowed that he would never recognize Kosovo or allow it to have UN membership. He repeated Saturday that he had not signed the implementation document.

ar/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)