Stoltenberg speaks with Vucic to promote dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo

Aug. 3 () –

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke on Wednesday with Serbian President Alexander Vucic to ease tensions in the Balkan region following the closure of border crossings and roads with Kosovo.

“All parties must engage constructively in the talks mediated by the European Union and resolve disputes through diplomacy. NATO missions, KFOR, backed by the United Nations mandate, stand ready to intervene if stability is threatened,” Stoltenberg recalled on his official Twitter profile.

For his part, Vucic told Stoltenberg, as reported by ‘The Daily Times’, that the country “has not threatened peace in any way” nor has it violated Security Council resolution 1244, which endorsed the deployment of the Euro-Atlantic mission in Kosovo (KFOR) in 1999.

The European Union has invited the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and his Serbian counterpart to meet in Brussels to discuss within the framework of the talks facilitated by the block, in order to avoid tensions in the north of Kosovo, according to what has been collected ‘Sot Boot’.

Tensions on the border increased on Sunday when the Serbs erected barricades on the border in protest at the decisions of the Kosovar government on the application of measures to veto the use of Serbian identity documents and license plates in its territory and that came into force this Monday. Finally, Kosovo has extended the application of the law for one month.

The conflict between Serbia and Kosovo began in September 2021, when the latter ordered that all drivers entering the country from Serbia use temporary license plates valid for 60 days, a measure already in place for drivers entering the country from Kosovo since 2008.

Five EU countries, including Spain, do not recognize the Kosovar unilateral declaration of independence in 2008. The EU, however, acts as a mediator in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, on which the general normalization of relations and the possibilities of accession of both countries to the community bloc.

The EU’s diplomatic initiative, which reactivated the dialogue process in 2020, seeks for the two parties to normalize their relations in binding terms and in accordance with international standards, something that it considers a ‘sine qua non’ condition for the European path.