EU foreign policy chief urges Serbia, Kosovo to implement EU-backed deal to normalize ties

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Kosovo and Serbia must implement the EU-backed agreement to normalize relations, the EU foreign policy chief said on Wednesday.

Josep Borrell's remarks came after the main negotiators of Belgrade and Pristina for the dialogue, Petar Pekovic and Besnik Bisljimi, respectively, met in Brussels on Tuesday.

“Serbia and Kosovo made a commitment to the Agreement on the path to normalization and its annex. The EU expects both to honor all obligations from it and start implementing as soon as possible,” Borrell said on Twitter.

“The parties must avoid any escalations. Translation of their commitments into their European paths is ongoing,” he added.

Last week, local Serbs' vehicles were set on fire in northern Kosovo, apparently over the issue of Kosovar license plates.

Police said five parked vehicles belonging to Serbs were set on fire by a person or persons unknown.

Belgrade’s chief negotiator Petkovic Tuesday told reporters that the two sides reached an agreement on the declaration on missing persons.

Borrell welcomed the development.

“The agreement they reached on the text on the declaration on missing persons during yesterday’s chief negotiators' meeting is a first step. We will endorse it at leaders’ level at the next high-level meeting I will convene,” he said.

Tuesday's meeting was the first since Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti reached an agreement on how to implement the EU-backed deal in the last round of talks on March 18 in North Macedonia.

The EU requires that Kosovo and Serbia reach a final agreement and resolve disputes to progress in their integration into the bloc.

Most UN member states, including the US, UK, France, Germany and Türkiye, recognized Kosovo as a separate country after it declared independence from Serbia 15 years ago. But Serbia continues to regard it as its territory.