The European Council is set to deliberate on the Kosovo-Serbia relationship during the second day of the European Union summit, following a lengthy yet unproductive day of meetings between the leaders of these two nations and EU leaders on Thursday in Brussels.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, reported in a press conference on Thursday evening that the Council did not discuss the Balkan nations’ relations the previous day, noting that they “support the normalization of relations and de-escalation [of the situation]”, which they intend to address at the Council meeting on Friday.
During today’s Council meeting, EU leaders are anticipated to express their deep concern about the security situation in north Kosovo, condemn the September 24 attack on the Kosovo Police in the north, demand accountability for those responsible, and urge Serbia to fully cooperate in the investigation. Furthermore, both Kosovo and Serbia will be called upon to fulfill their dialogue obligations promptly and unconditionally.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, stated that the Commission awaits the findings of investigations into the attack in Banjska Zvecan, for which Kosovo holds Serbia responsible, addressing accusations of an unbalanced Commission stance.
She clarified, “The investigations are ongoing, and we have said several times that when the investigations are completed, we will decide on the measures and the nature of those measures”.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić separately met with the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, and the EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák on Thursday.
These meetings, aimed at rekindling the dialogue for normalizing relations, concluded without an agreement between the parties.
EU leaders cited the presented conditions as the hindrance to reaching reconciliation.
Following the meetings, Kurti emphasized that the signing of agreements with the neighboring country is the guarantee for their implementation. Vučić, on the other hand, stressed the importance of implementing “what has been signed”.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and mediator for talks on normalizing Kosovo-Serbia relations, stated that an agreement was unattainable because “the conditions of one party were unacceptable to the other”.
He confirmed that the discussions in Brussels revolved around the new proposal by Western diplomats for the status of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, presented in Pristina and Belgrade on October 21.
Borrell emphasized that engaging sincerely in the normalization process can only be achieved through dialogue, as it is the sole avenue for progress on the European path.
He expressed the EU’s determination to continue working towards reaching an agreement while acknowledging the challenges encountered during the recent discussions.
