More than two decades after a deadly war between Kosovar independence rebels and Serbian forces, Belgrade refuses to recognize the independence proclaimed by its former province in 2008.
Progress but not yet agreed. The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia on Saturday, March 18, failed to sign a text normalizing their relations, which have remained complicated since the end of the 1999 war. It must be said that Serbia refuses to recognize the independence proclaimed in 2008 from its former province, whose population of 1.8 million inhabitants, mostly of Albanian origin, includes a Serbian municipality of about 120,000 inhabitants.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Saturday for 12-hour talks on the shore of Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia, led by the chief of European diplomacy Josep Borrell. Westerners have increased pressure on Belgrade and Pristina in recent months to prevent a possible eruption of tensions in the fragile Balkan region while war rages in Ukraine.
The Ohrid meeting came after talks in Brussels collapsed last month when an 11-article European peace plan was unveiled, more than two decades after a deadly war between Kosovar independence rebels and Serbian forces. Brussels wanted both parties to agree on an annex to implement this European proposal.
Josep Borrell congratulated the press that the two camps had accepted the annex in question, but acknowledged that Belgrade and Pristina had gone less than hoped. “The parties have not been able to come up with a mutually acceptable solution that is as ambitious as the one we have proposed,” he told reporters.
Persistent Tensions
The European proposal stipulates that the two camps will not use violence to resolve their differences. The draft would result in de facto recognition between Belgrade and Pristina, as it stipulates that the two sides “mutually recognize their respective national documents and symbols”. The text also states that “Serbia will not oppose Kosovo’s membership of an international organization,” a key demand from Pristina, which in particular wants to join the UN. At the same time, he proposes granting the Serb minority in Kosovo “an appropriate degree of self-government.”
The question of Kosovo remains obsessive for some of the 6.7 million Serbs who consider the territory their national and religious cradle, where crucial battles have been fought over the centuries. Thousands of people demonstrated in Belgrade on Friday at the call of nationalist parties against an agreement that they believe would be tantamount to “surrender”.
In Kosovo, with encouragement from Belgrade, many members of the Serb minority are denying any loyalty to Pristina. Especially in the north of the territory, near the border with Serbia, there are frequent clashes, demonstrations and sometimes violence.