Von der Leyen Asks Pristina to Form Community of Serb Municipalities, Belgrade to Recognize Kosovo

Ursula von der Leyen and Vjosa Osmani (BETAPHOTO/European Commission/Christophe Licoppe)

On Oct. 30, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen urged Pristina and Belgrade to work on normalizing relations, asking Pristina to begin the procedure of forming the Community of Serb Municipalities and Belgrade to accept de facto recognition of Kosovo's independence, and said this was the only way to move forward.

After meeting with Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani in Pristina, Von der Leyen told reporters that she would travel to Podgorica and Belgrade on Oct. 31 to discuss steps Serbia should take toward de facto recognizing Kosovo's independence.

Von der Leyen said the EU was very committed to the future of the Western Balkans, and pointed out that the European Commission had plans to invest EUR30 billion in the region.

Osmani said the EU's plan for Western Balkan growth had been the focus of her meeting with Von der Leyen, and stressed that Kosovo was ready to take the next step closer to the European future it was working toward.

She called on Serbia to hand anyone involved in the Sept. 24 armed attack in the village of Banjska, northern Kosovo, over to Pristina, saying that Pristina would guarantee justice and that everyone should reject violence as the way to reach "malicious value-undercutting goals."