EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the text was handed over to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti shortly before the EU-Western Balkans summit in Albania on Tuesday. Serious discussions should now begin. Borrell initially did not comment on the content in the Albanian capital Tirana.
The EU has been trying for years to help clarify the relationship between the two neighbours. Now inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians, Kosovo split from Serbia in 1999 with NATO help and declared independence in 2008. More than a hundred countries, including Germany, recognize independence. Others such as Serbia, Russia and China, but also five EU countries have not done so to this day.
Borrell said the new proposal was made with the support of Germany and France. Government representatives from Berlin and Paris recently suggested that Serbia should not recognize independence, but accept it. Specifically, this should mean that Belgrade will no longer block Kosovo’s membership of international organisations. In return, Serbia could receive substantial financial and economic assistance from the EU.
(SDA)