The Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU) has approved today the final decision to amend the negotiating framework for accession with Serbia, conditioning its acceptance on normalizing relations with its neighbor, Kosovo.

This change concerns Chapter 35 of the negotiating framework, in which the implementation of the Agreement on the way to the normalization of relations with Kosovo now becomes a formal condition for Serbia in the accession negotiation process in the bloc.

In the new text of the negotiating framework, the following sentence has been set as a condition: “Serbia fully implements the obligations arising from the Agreement on the way to the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, as per its Implementation Annex, as agreed on 18 March 2023.”

On 27 February 2023 in Brussels, Kosovo and Serbia had reached the Basic Agreement, while on 18 March in Ohër, an agreement was reached on the Implementation Annex of the agreement.

The European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS), which had also proposed these changes, welcomed the Council of Ministers’ decision to approve them, according to the EU spokesperson, Peter Stano. “Both parties had accepted their respective obligations, that the Agreement for normalization [of relations] would become an integral part of their European integration path. The implementation of the Annex reached in March 2023 reflects this obligation of both parties,” said Stano.

Stano confirmed that Kosovo will also be formally bound by such an obligation through a “special normalization group.”

“The agenda of the upcoming meeting of the special normalization group for Kosovo will also be updated. We expect both parties to implement the Agreement and all other remaining obligations from the dialogue, as this is crucial for their respective European path,” he added.

Ambassadors of EU member states had reached an agreement on these changes last week.

This change had been requested to include the obligation for Serbia to implement the agreement from the dialogue with Kosovo as a condition under Chapter 35 of the accession negotiations framework since the agreement was reached a year ago.

Progress in the normalization process of relations with Kosovo had previously been part of the conditions in Belgrade’s accession negotiations with the EU, but now specifically mentions the condition of implementing the agreement reached last year.

This agreement, consisting of 11 points, among other things, also provides for a level of self-governance for the Serbian community in Kosovo and mutual recognition of state symbols, while also requiring Prishtina and Belgrade to implement all previous agreements reached during the dialogue.

The EU insists that the agreement and annex, despite not being signed by the parties, are legal obligations for both countries.

Serbia, through its officials, has repeatedly stated that it will not implement parts of the agreement related to territorial integrity and the recognition of Kosovo in international organizations.

/k.s/