EU and U.S. to Jointly Push for Restart of Serbia-Kosovo Talks

(Bloomberg) -- European Union and U.S. envoys will push Serbia and Kosovo next week to return to negotiations brokered by the bloc that both states want to join, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said.

EU’s Miroslav Lajcak and State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar will visit the Balkan neighbors next week as part of the transatlantic effort to jumpstart the talks stalled since 2020. 

Still, resumption “will only happen if both parties are ready to agree on positive results and concrete deliverables,” Borrell said in Brussels, after meeting Serbia’s Premier Ana Brnabic.

Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO bombed Serbian troops to stop their crackdown on ethnic Albanians. Kosovo has since gained recognition by most western powers but needs to mend ties with Serbia to be considered for EU membership. Serbia faces similar conditions in its EU bid.

“I have to welcome Serbia’s readiness to engage in the dialog,” Borrell said. “I will continue engagement with both parties, and especially with Kosovo that at the moment shows more reluctance to sit at the table.”

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