March 21 () –
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has applauded the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo to normalize their relations and has stressed that the parties must work “quickly” and “in good faith” to “materialize all their obligations under the agreement”.
“The Secretary General (of the UN) applauds the recent announcement by the European Union (EU) on an agreement between the parties for the application of the Agreement on the Path towards Normalization of Relations between Belgrade and Pristina”, highlighted the deputy spokesman for Guterres, Farhan Haq.
Thus, he has stated that the materialization of the same “is for the benefit of all” and has pointed out that the international organization “remains committed to supporting the application of the agreements that emanate from the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina facilitated by the EU”.
The agreement was reached on Saturday after a marathon twelve-hour meeting mediated by the EU, as confirmed by the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. “This agreement is an important step to make it a reality. We will continue working tirelessly until we reach a comprehensive agreement for the normalization of their relations,” he said.
Belgrade and Pristina have been negotiating in Brussels for decades with few results and a poor record of implementing the agreements already reached, weighed down by the conflicts stemming from the violent secession of Kosovo from Serbia in the late 1990s.
