Serbia, Kosovo leaders set for EU backed talks on Aug. 18

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Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic both accepted the invitation of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell for the meeting next Thursday.

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Serbia's prime minister on Monday said that she expects meetings of Kosovar and Serbian leaders next week in Brussels to be constructive. Ana Brnabic's remarks came after meeting with US Ambassador Christopher Hill in the capital Belgrade.

Brnabic said Serbia's key priorities are maintaining peace and stability in the region as well as investing additional efforts with the aim of developing regional relations in all areas.

Brnabic added that the parties have great potential for cooperation in the energy sector through the Open Balkans initiative, which has proved to be an efficient framework for solving issues.

The parties said there was great potential for cooperation in the energy sector, in particular when it comes to projects concerning renewable energy sources.

Hill emphasized that continued dialogue is the only path to resolving open issues.

The leaders will meet with Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak, the EU's special representative for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, on Aug. 18 in the EU capital.

Tensions between Belgrade and Pristina escalated in late July ahead of Kosovo's planned implementation of a new law making it mandatory for everyone, including Serbs living in Kosovo, to have a Kosovar ID card and license plate.

Later, Kosovo announced that it had decided to delay the new measures until Sept. 1.

Vucic called for dialogue to resolve issues with Kosovo.

Launched in 2011, the EU-led Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue aims to normalize relations between the two Balkan countries and find a mutually agreeable solution for their disputes in the framework of a legally binding agreement.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, with most UN members, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Türkiye, recognizing it as a separate autonomous country from its neighbor.

Serbia still claims that Kosovo is its territory.

Serbia and Kosovo agreed to meet in Brussels on Aug. 18 in order to discuss a flare-up of tensions between the neighbouring western Balkan nations, the European Union's executive said on Friday.l

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"The aim of the upcoming meeting ... in Brussels is to move the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade for this is something that is very much needed at the highest level," European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano told a news briefing.

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have agreed to meet in Brussels this month to discuss ways to end the stalemate in European Union-brokered talks aimed at improving relations between them as ethnic tensions simmer, a European Commission spokesman said Friday.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell hopes to hold talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in the same room, rather than shuttling between them as has been the case in the past, on August 18, Borrell’s spokesman Peter Stano told reporters.

The EU-backed Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, which is aimed at normalizing relations between the neighbors and former foes, has been at a virtual standstill for years and the leaders appear to agree on very little.

But Stano said: “Hey. We have an agreement. They agreed on the date and they agreed on the time.”

He described the meeting as “a very important step,” which provides “another opportunity to try to move all the other issues forward.”

Both countries are striving to join the 27-nation bloc, and success in the EU-backed talks is vital to their chances.

Kosovo was part of Serbia until an armed uprising in 1998-1999 by the territory’s ethnic Albanian majority triggered a bloody crackdown by the Serbs. NATO later bombed Serbia to force its troops out of Kosovo and halt a campaign of ethnic cleansing.

In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence but Serbia refuses to recognize the move.

On Monday, Kosovo authorities moved to ease mounting ethnic tensions in the country by delaying a controversial order on vehicle license plates and identity cards that triggered riots by minority Serbs, who put up roadblocks, sounded air raid sirens and fired guns into the air.

The NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo warned that it was “prepared to intervene if stability is jeopardized” and that it would “take whatever measures are necessary to keep a safe and secure environment in Kosovo at all times, in line with its UN mandate.”