The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement on the European Union-backed deal to normalise ties, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced late on Saturday. Substantial disagreements, however, remain between the two leaders.
Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met for 12 hours of talks on the shores of Lake Ohrid in northern Macedonia, led by EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell.
Following marathon talks, the EU welcomed progress between the two countries. Josep Borrell told reporters he was pleased that both sides had agreed to the annex in question, but acknowledged that Belgrade and Pristina had not gone as far as hoped.
“The parties have not been able to find a mutually acceptable solution as ambitious as the one we were proposing,” he told reporters without taking questions.
The West has been stepping up pressure on Belgrade and Pristina in recent months to prevent a possible flare-up of tensions in the fragile Balkan region as war rages in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia over a year ago.
The Ohrid meeting came after talks in Brussels failed last month, following an 11-article EU peace plan was unveiled more than two decades after a deadly war between Kosovar independence rebels and Serbian forces.
Brussels was seeking agreement from both sides on an annex to implement this EU proposal to normalise relations between Serbia and its former province.
Josep Borrell told reporters he was pleased that both sides had agreed to the annex in question, but acknowledged that Belgrade and Pristina had not gone as far as hoped.
“The parties have not been able to find a mutually acceptable solution as ambitious as the one we were proposing,” he told reporters without taking questions.
Serbia refuses to recognise the independence proclaimed in 2008 by its former province, whose population of 1.8 million, overwhelmingly ethnic Albanians, includes a Serb community of about 120,000.
