http://balkaninsight.com/2022/05/17/the-time-to-incentivize-the-kosovo-serbia-dialogue-is-now/

Engjellushe Morina
Berlin
BIRN

May 17, 202206:34

There is a window of opportunity for the EU to revive the stalled dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo – against the backdrop of war in Ukraine and with strong governments in Paris and Berlin.

The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process is lagging again. The last time that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti met within the framework of normalization of relations facilitated by the European Union was in July 2021.

Their only two meetings were described as unconstructive, difficult, and unstatesmanlike.

To incentivize the process, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz invited both Vucic and Kurti to Berlin on the same day for bilateral meetings and for a joint informal dinner in lieu of a proper meeting as part of the dialogue.

The meetings also served for the Chancellor to reiterate EU membership prospects for the region against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s increasing influence and its potential destabilizing effects in the Balkans.