EU envoy sees Serbia-Kosovo normalisation deal in months

EU envoy sees Serbia-Kosovo normalisation deal in months

by Joseph Anthony
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A file photo shows people at a protest after Kosovo’s decision to raise customs tariffs on Serbian and Bosnian goods, in the village of Rudare near Mitrovica, Kosovo

EU-mediated negotiations on normalising relations between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo could lead to a deal within months, the EUโ€™s envoy dealing with one of Europeโ€™s toughest territorial disputes said on Monday.

Ethnic Albanian majority Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a NATO-led bombing campaign to curtail ethnic warfare. Serbia, backed by its large Slavic and Orthodox Christian ally Russia, does not recognise Kosovoโ€™s independence, a precondition for Belgradeโ€™s future membership of the EU.
Normalisation negotiations broke down in 2018 but resumed in July after Kosovo lifted stiff import tariffs on Serbian goods.
Asked a deal could be reached, EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak told reporters on the sidelines of a regional conference in Slovenia that it would be a mistake to forecast a date as there were still โ€œvery complicated issues to addressโ€ฆ
โ€œLetโ€™s see how much time we need but I am speaking about months, I am not speaking about years,โ€ he added. โ€œBoth parties are committed, both parties are serious, respecting each other.โ€
Apart from the EU-brokered diplomatic track, top-level delegations from Serbia and Kosovo will meet in the United States next week to address economic cooperation.
After meeting Lajcak at the conference, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had presented Serbiaโ€™s goals to the EU envoy, above all the implementation of an earlier deal allowing an association of communities grouping Kosovoโ€™s minority Serbs.
โ€œI greatly respect what Lajcak is saying about normalisationโ€ฆ, which is legally and politically different from what Pristina and some others are saying,โ€ the Serbian news agency Tanjug quoted Vucic as saying.
The U.S. talks were previously set for June but delayed after Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was indicted for alleged war crimes during the 1998-99 guerrilla uprising against Serbian rule and its aftermath. He has denied the charges.
REUTERS

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