Kosovo Seeks ‘Reset’ of Decade-Old Dialogue with Serbia

"It is in Kosovo's interest to benefit from this historic opportunity and push forward Kosovo's requests by lobbying the US administration," said Violeta Haxholli, a researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute, KDI, a Pristina-based think tank.

Dialogue 'will be imposed as important'

EU Special Representative for the Pristina-Belgrade Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak (L) and Kosovo acting president, as well as most voted MP candidate in February 14 snap parliamentary elections, Vjosa Osmani (R) leave after their joint press conference in Pristina, Kosovo, March 2, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

Majority-Albanian Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after NATO went to war to halt a brutal counter-insurgency campaign by Serbian forces under then strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Serbia has vowed never to recognise its former province as independent, but the EU says that 'normalisation' of their relations is a key condition of eventual accession to the bloc.

To that end, the EU has put its premises and staff at the disposal of leaders from both sides and brokered more than 30 deals on mainly technical matters such as freedom of movement, customs and civil registries.

According to Haxholli, some of these have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented, but a host of others - for example, recognition of university diplomas, cadastral records and the creation of an 'association' of Serb-majority municipalities - remain on paper only.

Serbia, Haxholli told BIRN, "is not implementing dialogue agreements in some areas that imply recognition of Kosovo's independence."

EU external affairs spokesman Peter Stano told BIRN the bloc "expects all agreements...