BELGIUM: Serbia and Kosovo still at loggerheads in first meeting since the former Serbian province declared independence

Record ID: 720730

  • Title: BELGIUM: Serbia and Kosovo still at loggerheads in first meeting since the former Serbian province declared independence
  • Date: 7th February 2013
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, ( FEBRUARY 6, 2013) (REUTERS) EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE BUILDING EXTERIOR PEOPLE WALKING OUT FROM BUILDING VARIOUS OF SERBIAN PRESIDENT, TOMISLAV NIKOLIC, WALKING NIKOLIC TALKING TO MEDIA NIKOLIC TALKING TO REPORTER (RIGHT) TV TECHNICIAN TAKING PHOTO (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SERBIAN PRESIDENT, TOMISLAV NIKOLIC, SAYING: "For the start it was good, we
  • Embargoed: 22nd February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA42A31JKHQHHJQYOS0FO32BS4W
  • Story Text: The first meeting between the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo since the breakaway region declared independence from Belgrade in 2008 was held on neutral ground in Brussels on Wednesday (February 6).
    The EU has not budged from its strongly held position that Serbia's opposition to Kosovo's independence is a major obstacle in Belgrade's hopes of joining the European Union. And ongoing tensions between the two countries have increased as the EU pushes for talks. In the latest attack two Serbian children were injured when a grenade attack was thrown into their home in the flashpoint northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica. It was the third attack on the Serb side of the divided town in 24 hours.
    Although a sign of progress, the meeting showed no sign of a major breakthrough.
    After the meeting, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, once a firebrand advocate of the Greater Serbia policy that fomented the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, demanded Kosovo give up its claim to independence.
    "For the start it was good, we have opened the talks, how long it will last, it is not so important in the end, its better to talk longer and to somehow come to a solution but, if Pristina's position stays firm and unchanged that they are an independent state, which, let's say, is not recognized by UN, then we will hardly reach an agreement," he said.
    Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga said she was disappointed that Serbia appeared to stick to old and entrenched positions and urged Belgrade to move on.
    "Unfortunately he remained in the options of the old radical nationalist options that have caused a lot of damages and a lot of consequences, not only to my country but into the entire region. And I expect from the Serbian people to enjoy the positive changes and the spirit of the cooperation and the spirit of the good neighbourhood relation. this age is the age of integration. The time of the hegemony has already passed. It is a time on which we have to look on the process of integration towards the EU and the EU-Atlantic processes," she said.
    EU officials are pleased that both sides met saying the talks represented an "affirmation" of the dialogue process at a top level.
    The main talks, chaired by European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, involve the prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, who will meet again later in February.
    Serbia lost control over Kosovo in 1999, when Nikolic was part of a government in Belgrade fighting a counter-insurgency war in the then province.
    NATO bombed targets in the then Yugoslavia, comprised of Serbia and Montenegro, for 78 days to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanian civilians.
    The bombing resulted in the withdrawal of Serb police and Yugoslav military from Kosovo, which became a ward of the United Nations, although Serbia kept de facto control over a Serb-populated pocket of the north.
    The country of 1.7 million people has been recognized by more than 90 countries, including the United States and 22 of the EU's 27 members. Serbia says it will never follow suit.
    Belgrade has so far agreed to the joint management of its border with Kosovo, including a customs regime, to recognize Kosovo vehicle license plates, identification papers and university diplomas. Implementation has sometimes been patchy.
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