In a statement to Radio Free Europe, the U.S. State Department expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in the recent round of talks between Kosovo and Serbia aimed at normalizing their relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect both countries to take their commitments under the Agreement on the normalization of relations, reached earlier this year, seriously. Time is running out. We anticipate progress on their existing and previous commitments made during the dialogue, as well as those outlined in the Ohrid Agreement, which includes establishing an Association of Serb-majority municipalities,\u201d a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told RFE.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will hold internal consultations and engage with our European partners to determine the next steps,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
According to the spokesperson, facilitated dialogue by the EU remains the primary path forward for Kosovo and Serbia.<\/p>\n
Kosovo\u2019s Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia\u2019s President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 met in Brussels on Thursday, with mediation provided by the EU\u2019s Chief of Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, and the EU\u2019s Special Envoy for the Dialogue, Miroslav Laj\u010d\u00e1k.<\/p>\n
The meeting, focused on implementing the Basic Agreement for normalizing relations, ended without achieving any tangible results, Borrell noted.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that Kurti was the one who rejected the EU\u2019s proposal for simultaneous implementation of obligations arising from the agreement, while Vu\u010di\u0107 accepted it.<\/p>\n
Borrell explained that Kurti insisted on Serbia first formally recognizing Kosovo, while Vu\u010di\u0107 pushed for the establishment of an Association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.<\/p>\n
Borrell stated, \u201cKurti was not willing to move forward with initiating a credible process for establishing the Association\u201d.<\/p>\n
In separate press conferences, Kurti and Vu\u010di\u0107 accused each other of being responsible for the lack of progress in the meeting.<\/p>\n
Kurti mentioned that Serbia\u2019s insistence on the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities had \u201cbecome the position of the EU\u2019s envoys\u201d.<\/p>\n
Vu\u010di\u0107, on the other hand, claimed that Kurti was simply \u201cavoiding the formation of the Association… this is the crux of the matter\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a statement to Radio Free Europe, the U.S. State Department expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in the recent round of talks between Kosovo and Serbia aimed at normalizing their relations. \u201cWe expect both countries to take their commitments under the Agreement on the normalization of relations, reached earlier this year, seriously. Time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":55996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[300,1929,243,151,383,301,1249,787],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n