Serbia’s president says European Union-mediated negotiations on normalizing relations with Kosovo will resume within days.
Aleksandar Vucic did not specify the date for restarting the talks, which stalled last year, but said: “We are talking about days, not weeks."
Vucic added on June 4 that Serbia is "always ready to talk" and "does not want a frozen conflict."
Vucic spoke after U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Palmer and the EU envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, visited Serbia to press its leaders to resume talks on the normalization of ties with Kosovo.
The Serbian government has stated that the normalization process with Kosovo is one of its priorities.
Palmer and Lajcak visited Pristina, Kosovo's capital, before traveling to Belgrade on June 3. Kosovo’s government, led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who took office in March, has said it is busy fighting the coronavirus pandemic and that talks with Serbia are not high on its list of immediate goals.
Both Washington and Brussels have said that normalization is essential for their further integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Serbia and Kosovo are both seeking EU membership, and Kosovo aims at NATO membership too.
Kosovo, a former Serbian province, declared independence in 2008 after a 1998-99 conflict between separatist ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces. The war ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign that drove Serbian troops out, and a peacekeeping force moved in.
The United States and most EU countries have recognized Kosovo's statehood, while Serbia has the support of Russia and China.
Serbian President Says EU-Brokered Talks On Normalizing Kosovo Ties To Resume
![Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic](https://gdb.rferl.org/4d660e67-23f2-4115-a1e1-5c2529165028_cx0_cy3_cw0_w250_r1_s.jpg)
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
U.S., Canadian Warplanes Intercept Russian, Chinese Military Aircraft Near Alaska
2Crowdsourcing Russia's Future: Poll Of Experts Considers What Comes After Putin
3Russia Attacks Ukrainian Danube Port For Second Day As NATO Scrambles Warplanes Over Romania
4Turkey Detains Russian Man Suspected Of Car Bombing In Moscow
5Ukrainian Forces Fight Intense Battles In Donetsk Region, Zelenskiy Says
6Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine
7Pentagon Finds Another $2 Billion Of Accounting Errors For Ukraine Aid
8'Don't Even Whisper In Your Language': Russian Course For Central Asians Lays Down Strict Rules
9Under Relentless Russian Attacks, Ukrainian Power Plant Workers Race To Get The Lights Back On
10Bulgarian President Admits Blocking Pro-Western Envoy To Kyiv
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.