German Official: Agreement between Serbia, Kosovo Possible

Kosovo and Metohija

President of the Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen said on June 16 that an agreement between Kosovo and Serbia was possible, but that one of Serbia's tasks would be to recognize Kosovo's independence on that road.

Heusgen told Deutsche Welle that Kosovo and Serbia needed to do their homework first, and that part of this was Serbia's recognition of Kosovo, which German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for during a visit to Belgrade last week. Heusgen added that this was not a new request.

"This is why I am slightly surprised by the Serbian President appearing so surprised.  This has been being asked for for a long series of years. We have the possibility of an agreement according to the Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic model. The agreement from 1971 paved the way to establishing diplomatic ties between the two Germanies, which later enabled the Germany Democratic Republic to be recognized and become a member of the U.N. These questions have been on the agenda for a long time now. This is why I was surprised that the Serbian President was surprised. However, of course, we have to move forward on the question of getting five EU states to recognize Kosovo," he said.

According to Heusgen, for Kosovo to be recognized it needs to make progress in the dialogue with Serbia and implement the agreements reached in Brussels, including an agreement on a Community of Serb Municipalities.