Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU and US continue tug-of-war on Balkans talks

  • EU special envoy Miroslav Miroslav Lajčák (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

Serbia and Kosovo are fully committed to EU talks, Brussels has said, despite a rival US process that caused irritation on Israel.

"It is important that both leaders this morning, coming from the meeting in the White House ... confirmed that they attach the highest priority to the EU integration and to continuing the work on the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue," EU special envoy Miroslav Lajčák said on Monday (7 September).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

And their decision "is essential for progress in their respective European paths", he added.

Lajčák spoke after meeting Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo prime minister Avdullah Hoti in Brussels.

The resumption of EU talks on normalising relations came after Vučić and Hoti already signed a deal on closer economic ties in the White House last Friday.

US diplomacy had already annoyed the EU foreign service in the past.

"The EU-facilitated dialogue is the only way to turn Kosovo's European future into a reality for its citizens," the EU foreign service said in June when the rival US talks began.

And Friday's deal saw them annoy the EU once again, when Kosovo and Serbia agreed to follow America in moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, which the EU does not recognise as Israel's capital.

"The EU expects both to act in line with this commitment so that their European perspective is not undermined," an EU spokesman said Monday.

"Any diplomatic steps that could call into question the EU's common position on Jerusalem are a matter of serious concern and regret," he added.

The US deal also saw them agree to build new road and rail links between Belgrade and Pristina, reopen a border crossing, recognise each other's professional qualifications, and expedite efforts to find missing persons from their 1990s war.

Meanwhile, Monday's EU talks also focused on "economic cooperation and missing and displaced persons", Lajčák noted, covering similar ground.

"We also discussed for the first time ... arrangements for non-majority communities and also the settlement of mutual financial claims and property," he added, referring to talks on the powers of ethnic-Serb enclaves in Kosovo.

Both tracks of talks - in the US and EU - are to continue in the future.

But Kosovo is unable to apply for EU membership until the five EU states that do not recognise its sovereignty - Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Spain, and Slovakia - have changed their minds, the European Commission said on Monday.

And that is unlikely to happen until Serbia changes its mind first, in a decision that no one is taking for granted despite the multiple diplomatic efforts.

'Lame' Kosovo president boycotts EU talks

Kosovo's president and the White House are refusing to speak to the EU's new Western Balkans envoy, in what the EU sees as "lame ... misguided" tactics.

Opinion

EU should not be a judge of historical issues

Slovakia and Czechia were not in a position to support the draft Council conclusion on enlargement and, to our surprise, we were labelled as troublemakers. We therefore need to clarify our motivations, write the Czech and Slovak foreign ministers.

US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us