Talks with Kosovo to be difficult, Serbian premier says ahead of EU-sponsored peace talks

BELGRADE, Serbia

Two days before a crucial high-level dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo sponsored by the European Union to iron out their differences, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Tuesday expressed his pessimism about the outcome, calling it "difficult."

Brnabic's remarks came ahead of a high-level EU-sponsored dialogue in the Belgian capital of Brussels to be held on Thursday.

Launched in 2011, the EU-led Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue aims to find a mutually agreeable solution for disputes in the framework of a legally binding agreement.

''We still don't have the Brussels Agreement and the establishment of a union of Serb municipalities. Pristina has no intention of implementing it, and (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin) Kurti doesn't want to say two words - Brussels Agreement," Brnabic said in the morning show on state-run Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), referring to the peace deal signed in February this year.

On Feb. 27, Serbia and Kosovo reached an agreement to sign a proposal to normalize ties after a meeting in Brussels. The parties later agreed on how to implement the deal in the last round of talks on March 18 in North Macedonia.

The 11-point agreement demands that the sides maintain good neighborly relations and recognize each other’s documents such as passports and license plates.

However, in her comments on the TV show, Brnabic expressed concern about further escalation of tensions in the region, blaming Kosovo for not adhering to the agreement signed this year.

Tensions between the two neighboring countries flared up following four local municipality elections in northern Kosovo dominated by ethnic Serbians in April this year, in which ethnic Albanians were elected as mayors amid very low turnout.

The EU later said the low turnout among Serbs would not result in long-term political solutions for municipalities with a large ethnic Serb population.

Since late May, ethnic Serbs have been protesting the election victories of Albanian mayors.

Later, NATO sent 700 more troops to support the Kosovo Force (KFOR), the alliance-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, on May 30 after 30 of its soldiers were injured during the unrest. A contingent of Turkish troops was among the reinforcements.

Kosovo and Serbia must resolve disputes and reach an agreement to move forward in becoming an EU member state.

When Pristina declared independence 15 years ago, most UN member states, including the US, UK, France, Germany, and Türkiye, recognized it as a separate country from Serbia. Yet Belgrade still considers Kosovo an autonomous province of Serbia.