The Heads of State or Government of the EU Member States called on Kosovo and Serbia, on Friday 27 October, to “continue their efforts” to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries. Already high, these tensions had reached a new level on 24 September, when a Kosovar policeman was killed by a group of armed Serbian men (see EUROPE 13278/40).
“The European Union expects the perpetrators to be apprehended and swiftly brought to justice and Serbia to fully cooperate and take all the necessary steps in this regard”, insist the EU27 leaders.
Saying they were “deeply concerned about the security situation in the north of Kosovo”, the heads of state or government also warned that: “Failure to de-escalate the tensions will have consequences”.
The leaders’ conclusions also regret “the lack of implementation by both Parties of the Agreement on the path to normalisation and its Implementation Annex as well as other agreements reached in the EU-facilitated dialogue”.
This normalisation agreement, which the EU27 would like to see implemented “without delay or preconditions”, includes in particular the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo. This issue, which was already part of the Brussels Agreement signed in 2013 by Belgrade and Pristina, is one of the priorities of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
In an attempt to make progress on this issue, a new proposal for a solution was made to the Kosovar Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, and to Mr Vučić on Thursday 26 October, in the margins of the European Council, by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. The Serbian President rejected the idea (see EUROPE 13280/3).
“Unfortunately, the parties were not prepared to agree on this point without preconditions that were unacceptable to the other party”, said Mr Borrell.
This new proposal is the second to be rejected by stakeholders in less than 2 months. Josep Borrell had presented another document to the two Balkan leaders in Brussels on 14 September. This time it was Albin Kurti who had turned his back on the proposed solution (see EUROPE 13251/4).
“The Association of Serb Municipalities is an important element, but not the only one”, insisted the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, at the end of the second day of the meeting of European leaders. “In order to make rapid progress on implementation, we call on Kosovo to launch the procedure for creating the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo, as provided for in the draft status, and on Serbia to proceed to de facto recognition”, commented Mr Macron, Mr Scholz, Mr Borrell and Ms Meloni in a joint statement. “Formalities, including those linked to adoption, should not be an obstacle to making progress in this area”, they added.
The EU27 also reiterated that, in order to contain tensions between the two countries, new elections should be organised in northern Kosovo “as soon as possible, with the active participation of Kosovo Serbs” (see EUROPE 13230/19).
“Now, these points must be implemented to guarantee a future for the people of Kosovo and Serbia. Both want to join the EU”, concluded Olaf Scholz.
To see the conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/9au (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)