Borrel Calls on Serbs to Return to Kosovo Institutions

Albin Kurti, Miroslav Lajcak, Josep Borrell, Aleksandar Vucic, Brussels, August 18 2022(BETAPHOTO/European Council)

The European Union’s High Representative Josep Borrell said in Paris, on Nov. 11, that Belgrade and Pristina should “find an urgent solution for the current crisis.”

Borrell underlined that Kosovo Serbs needed to return to Kosovo’s institutions, and that Kosovo had to align its moves related to the replacement of car license plates with agreements reached during the dialogue and immediately begin negotiations on establishing the Community of Serb Municipalities. Borrell issued the statement in Brussels after separate meetings with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

The EU high representative said that the obligations arising from the dialogue “are still effective and binding.” Borrell added in his statement that “bearing in mind the war in Ukraine, Europe cannot afford another one on its soil,” underlining that Belgrade and Pristina were responsible for avoiding war, and that they should restrain from unilateral actions and inflammatory messages.

Together with EU envoy for Kosovo Miroslav Lajcak, Borrell met with Vucic and Kurti, urging “both sides to be engaged constructively and express a readiness for compromise, while respecting their commitments within the dialogue.” “A lack of readiness to implement commitments and lower tensions quickly will firstly have harmful consequences for the people of Kosovo and Serbia, and then for the European futures of both sides and confidence in the two sides in the eyes of European and international partners,” the EU high representative warned.

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