| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Failure of Kosovo talks undermines Serbia's EU hopes |
| 2013-04-19 |
| Serbia and Kosovo have failed to agree on a plan to pursue the ethnic partition of Serbia's former province on Thursday, casting doubt on Belgrade's prospects of getting approval to start talks on joining the European Union in June. After 14 hours of talks in Brussels between the Serbian and Kosovo prime ministers, called a make-or-break session, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said differences remained between the two sides. She said however that she held out hope there could yet be an agreement before an EU ministerial meeting on Monday at which she is expected to make a recommendation on whether Serbia is ready to start negotiations on joining the EU. Agreement between Serbia and Kosovo is seen as crucial to Belgrade's chances of securing approval at a June summit to begin talks on joining the 27-nation bloc. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's secession and has retained de facto control over a small, Serb-populated pocket in north Kosovo, an ethnic partition that frequently breaks into violence and that the EU says must end. Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said he had accepted proposals for normalizing relations with Serbia that Ashton had put forward but that Serbia had rejected them. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said the Ashton's plan was much more acceptable to Belgrade than earlier proposals had been. He said, "It is clear however that Pristina is not ready to go to the very end and that it is obstructing these talks ... and even threatens to resolve the issue of northern Kosovo with some other methods." The impasse over north Kosovo has frustrated NATO's plans to further cut back its peace force in Kosovo, which now numbers 6,000 soldiers. In a major change in official policy, Serbia's ruling coalition has offered to recognize Pristina's authority over the north, but wants autonomy for some 50,000 Serbs living there. The EU has brokered talks between Kosovo and Serbia for the past six months, but they have run into trouble over the powers Serbs would wield, particularly over policing and courts. Serbia also wants a guarantee that Kosovo's future army will not be allowed to enter the north. |
| Posted by:ryuge |