Current:Home > StocksEU envoy in surprise visit to Kosovo to push for further steps in normalization talks with Serbia-InfoLens
EU envoy in surprise visit to Kosovo to push for further steps in normalization talks with Serbia
View Date:2024-12-23 12:26:41
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The European Union’s envoy for the western Balkans began a surprise two-day visit to Kosovo on Monday to talk with its leaders on further steps in normalization talks with Serbia.
Miroslav Lajcak met with Kosovar Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, who is Kosovo’s main negotiator in the EU-facilitated talks with Serbia, from which Kosovo declared independence in 2008 nearly a decade after they fought a bloody war.
The visit is “to follow up on the recent meeting with European leaders in Brussels and the need for full implementation of the Agreement on the Path to Normalization without delay or preconditions,” Lajcak said on X, the former Twitter. “We also agreed on next steps,” he wrote, without giving any details.
Lajcak also planned to meet with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and opposition leaders.
During a trip to the region last week, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Kosovo to establish an association of its Serb majority towns and pushed Serbia to deliver “de facto recognition” of the independence of Kosovo, which Belgrade still considers its province.
The normalization talks have failed to make progress, especially following a September shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and ratcheted up tensions in the region.
The last thing the EU wants is more conflict in its backyard. The war between Serbia and Kosovo in 1998-99 killed more than 10,000 people, mostly Kosovo Albanians.
Both Serbia and Kosovo have said they want to join the 27-nation EU, but EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said their refusal to compromise is jeopardizing their chances for membership.
The EU and the United States are pressing both countries to put implement agreements that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kurti reached in February and March.
But Vucic and Kurti deeply distrust each other and neither wants to be the first to make concessions without guarantees that the other will reciprocate.
The EU and U.S. want Kosovo to allow the creation of an Association of the Serb-Majority Municipalities to coordinate work on education, health care, land planning and economic development in communities of northern Kosovo mostly populated by ethnic Serbs.
Kurti has worried that would be a step toward creating a Serb mini-state with wide autonomy. But he apparently has accepted an EU proposal on the association if it is formally signed by himself and Vucic together with the February and March documents.
Vucic has made it clear Serbia would never recognize Kosovo or accept it to be a United Nations member.
___
Llazar Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- John Krasinski Details Moment He Knew Wife Emily Blunt Was “the One”
- Former employee of Virginia Walmart files $20 million lawsuit against retailer
- McCarthy rejects Senate spending bill while scrambling for a House plan that averts a shutdown
- 200 people have died from gun violence in DC this year: Police
- Dozens indicted over NYC gang warfare that led to the deaths of four bystanders
- Renting vs. buying a house: The good option for your wallet got even better this year
- Long a city that embraced cars, Paris is seeing a new kind of road rage: Bike-lane traffic jams
- Burkina Faso's junta announces thwarted military coup attempt
- New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage
- Slightly fewer number of Americans apply for jobless benefits as layoffs remain rare
Ranking
- Whoopi Goldberg calling herself 'a working person' garners criticism from 'The View' fans
- Judge rejects an 11th-hour bid to free FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried during his trial
- Kylie Jenner Turns Heads With Bangin' Look During Red Hot Paris Fashion Week Appearance
- Powerball jackpot at $850 million for Sept. 27 drawing. See Wednesday's winning numbers.
- Mississippi rising, Georgia falling in college football NCAA Re-Rank 1-134 after Week 11
- Last samba in Paris: Gabriela Hearst exits Chloé dancing, not crying, with runway swan song
- Wisconsin Supreme Court won’t hear longshot case trying to head off impeachment
- Israel reopens the main Gaza crossing for Palestinian laborers and tensions ease
Recommendation
-
Oprah Winfrey denies being paid $1M for Kamala Harris rally: 'I was not paid a dime'
-
For Sanibel, the Recovery from Hurricane Ian Will Be Years in the Making
-
Heinz announces new product after Taylor Swift condiment choice goes viral at Chiefs game
-
Suspect wanted in murder of Baltimore tech CEO arrested: US Marshals
-
Prosecutors say some erroneous evidence was given jurors at ex-Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial
-
Hollywood actors to resume negotiations with studios on Monday as writers strike ends
-
'The Golden Bachelor' Gerry Turner reveals what his late wife would think of reality TV stint
-
Slightly fewer number of Americans apply for jobless benefits as layoffs remain rare