Von der Leyen calls on Serbia and Kosovo to seize the moment and advance in the normalization of their relations

BRUSSELS, March 14 () –

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has called on Serbia and Kosovo to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the new negotiation proposal put on the table by European diplomacy, insisting that it is time to move forward with normalization of their relationships.

“There is an EU plan on the table for normalization between Belgrade and Pristina and we believe that it is an opportunity and they should seize the moment from both sides. Normalization is crucial for the prosperity and stability of the region,” he said in an interview with Europa Press and a group of agencies from the European Newsroom.

Given the meeting that will take place on March 18 in North Macedonia, which is key to taking steps in the new format of negotiations to advance the agreements reached after a decade of talks facilitated by the EU with little concrete progress on the field, Von der Leyen has called for the talks “to be constructive”.

“Let them negotiate and see the results,” he said, when asked if there would be consequences for Serbia and Kosovo if their leaders fail to make progress in next week’s contacts.

Despite the fact that the EU and the United States defend the new negotiation proposal and say that it is accepted by Belgrade and Pristina, the Serbian president, Aleksander Vucic, has insisted that he has not signed any agreement, generating a new dissonance in the process between Serbia and his former province.