Serbia-Kosovo dialogue deadlocked in Brussels, talks will continue

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian President, and Albin Kurti, Kosovar Prime Minister, during a press conference, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, August 17, 2022. © Montage RFI/REUTERS/Johanna Geron

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After insulting, ignoring and then accusing each other for more than a year, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti met on Thursday August 18 in Brussels.

The Europeans, Americans and NATO want to relaunch the dialogue between the two parties.

However, the meeting did not result in any agreement.

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With our correspondent in Belgrade,

Nobody talks about failure, but it looks like it.

On Thursday, the Serbian and Kosovar leaders, who had not met for over a year, did not reach any agreement in Brussels.

However, it is necessary to avoid the resumption of incidents in the North of Kosovo, with a Serb majority.

In question, the controversial ban on Serbian identity cards and license plates by Pristina could take place as early as September 1.

Obviously, Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti is keen on his discriminatory measure, in the name of a principle of reciprocity that he shapes as he pleases.

Opposite, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic remained just as inflexible, even if he announced a meeting with vague outlines, Sunday, with the Serbian representatives of Kosovo.

Discussions planned for the next few days

European diplomacy chief Josep Borell has warned that both sides will bear full responsibility in the event of an escalation on the ground.

He nevertheless remains hopeful of reaching an agreement before September 1st.

The Serbian and Kosovar representatives could continue discussions on Friday in Brussels.

In any case, they are committed to continuing the dialogues in the coming days.

►Also read: International Guest - Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia: "We are at an impasse"

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• Aleksandar Vucic

• Serbia

• Kosovo

• European Union