German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 18, 2023. POOL / REUTERS
Brussels receives the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo on Monday after pressing for them to reach an agreement which the European Union hopes will allow a “de facto recognitionand a normalization of relations between former enemies. In the weeks leading up to the meeting, the two sides acknowledged that they had been increasingly urged by the EU and the United States to find common ground more than two decades after the war between them.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic are due to meet Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, in Brussels this afternoon to review a plan that could set the part of a potential agreement. The talks follow intense shuttle diplomacy aimed at reviving hopes of resolving tensions between Belgrade and Pristina, still simmering almost 25 years after a deadly war between Albanian independence rebels and Serbian forces ended with a bombing campaign by the army. ‘NATO.
Serbia refuses to recognize the independence proclaimed in 2008 by its former province whose population of 1.8 million inhabitants, overwhelmingly of Albanian origin, includes a Serbian minority of around 120,000 people. Relations between Belgrade and Pristina have been going from crisis to crisis for years. Last week, Albin Kurti told the Kosovar parliament that the project currently in the pipeline could pave the way for the territory’s access to a whole series of international institutions, something Pristina has been calling for for a long time. “I believe the next meeting will show how hopeful we can be this yearhe told MPs. “I am very optimistic that a deal can be reached this year“.
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“Knife to the Throat”
For his part, the Serbian president has publicly said that he has a knife to his throat. In a televised address, Aleksandar Vucic said last month that he had received an ultimatum from Western countries to normalize relations with Kosovo, failing which Serbia would face serious consequences. “They said: you have to accept this plan, or else you will have to face an interruption of the European accession process, a halt and withdrawal of investments and a series of economic and political measures which will do a lot of harm to the Republic of Serbia“, did he declare.
These events occur in the midst of the war in Ukraine invaded a year ago by Russia, a conflict which mobilizes much Western diplomacy and raises fears that Moscow is trying to use Kosovo to further divide Europe.Russian aggression in Ukraine has changed the situation. The West cannot allow Russia to open a potential new front, and this region is volatile enough as it is.Aleksandar Popov, a political analyst at the Center for Regionalism in Novi Sad, in northern Serbia, told AFP.
A senior European official accused Russia last Friday of actively trying to derail talks between the two sides. The plan drawn up by the EU has not been made public and it is unclear how Belgrade and Pristina could present it to their respective public opinions.
The question of Kosovo remains obsessive for some of the 6.7 million Serbs, who consider the territory as their national and religious cradle, where crucial battles have been fought over the centuries. Many members of the Serb minority in Kosovo refuse all loyalty to Pristina with encouragement from Belgrade. This is particularly true in the north of the territory, near the border with Serbia, the scene of frequent clashes, demonstrations and sometimes violence.
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