The meetings between the Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Serbian President Vucic in Brussless ended without any agreement. The Government of Kosovo said that the Prime Minister of the country, Albin Kurti, discussed two topics in the August 18 meetings under the mediation of the European Union.
According to the Government, the meeting discussed the general framework of the final agreement. Kurti emphasized that this agreement should be based on mutual recognition, therefore “he has presented several chapters with relevant elements that this framework should contain”.
“The second topic was the current political and security issues for which Prime Minister Kurti pointed out the importance of legality and constitutionalism in our country as guarantees of peace, security and equality for all citizens without distinction”, the Government’s announcement reads.
Even after several hours of negotiations, Kosovo and Serbia did not reach an agreement on Serbian license plates and documents.
Kurti and Vucic held separate meetings with the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, and the EU envoy for the dialogue between the two countries, Miroslav Lajcak, but also joint meetings.
Borrell said that the meetings on August 18 in Brussels between the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, with the mediation of the EU, were not “ordinary meetings”, but “crisis management meetings”.
The meetings in Brussels were called after local Serbs on July 31 and August 1 set up barricades as a sign of dissatisfaction with the Kosovo Government’s decision to implement two decisions: on Serbian car plates and documents. Kosovo insists that the dialogue for the normalization of relations be concluded with mutual recognition between the two countries. Serbia, on the other hand, seeks a compromise solution.
Kosovo and Serbia have an agreement on free movement since 2011.
Kosovo implemented on August 1 – for a few hours – the point for the document for entry/exit and postponed the implementation of the decision to September 1, in order to reduce tensions in the north. Meanwhile, the Serbs have removed the barricades.
The United States and the European Union have also requested such a postponement, although they have said that Kosovo has the right to implement these decisions.

/Klara Ruci/