The European Union’s foreign affairs chief said that Serbia and Kosovo agreed to the introduction of a plan to normalize relations, but the leaders of the two countries said there was still work to be done.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti are in North Macedonia this weekend in a bid to defuse long-running tensions. The European Union’s head of foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, was involved as a mediator.

In February, Vucic and Kurti agreed to an eleven-point plan from the EU to normalize relations between the two countries, and both look forward to joining the union in the future. Weekend talk revolved around how the plan would be implemented.

– Kosovo and Serbia have agreed to implement the annex to the agreement on normalizing relations between them, Borrell said on Saturday evening.

Talks between the three lasted twelve hours on Saturday. Previously, Borrell had separate meetings with Vucic and Kurti.

– No final agreement

According to Vucic, “some sort of deal” had been struck.

– We have agreed on some points, but not on all. This is not a final agreement, Vucic said on Saturday. Vucic described the conversation with Kurti as indecent.

– This is a de facto recognition between Kosovo and Serbia, said Kurti on Saturday.

Borrell described the talks as “difficult”, but said that Kosovo had agreed to immediately start talks on establishing special arrangements and guarantees to ensure increased autonomy for Serbian territories in Kosovo.

The parties had talked about forming a collective organization for the Serb-dominated municipality, which has long been mooted, according to Borell.

He said that the EU would now demand that both sides act on legislation if they wanted to join a union.

Young country

Kosovo was the last country to secede when Yugoslavia disintegrated following the fall of the wall.

Until the declaration of independence on February 17, 2008, Kosovo was a province of Serbia. The country still has a large Serb minority that does not recognize the government in Pristina, and neither does Serbia.

The long-term idea is that Kosovo and Serbia will recognize each other’s national symbols and official acts. It also means that Serbia stops blocking Kosovo’s attempts to join the United Nations.

The agreement says nothing about the two countries officially recognizing each other.

(© NTB)