Serbian Leader Vows to Keep Up Kosovo Talks Before ID Deadline

Misha Savic
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Serbia will negotiate with Kosovo over the next 10 days to try to resolve a dispute affecting tens of thousands of local Serbs who face a Sept. 1 deadline to change their identity cards and car plates.

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Kosovo’s demand that members of the Serb minority adopt documents issued by the predominantly ethnic-Albanian government in Pristina triggered tensions last month along the neighbors’ shared border.

The flare-up prompted the European Union to hold talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Premier Albin Kurti. The pair met in Brussels last week but made no visible progress.

“We have no other choice but to preserve peace, stability and safety,” Vucic told reporters in Belgrade. Vucic has accused Kosovo’s government of mistreating the Serbian minority -- a charge Kurti rejects -- with the aim of making them leave the country. “But I guarantee that there won’t be any refugee convoys, we will prevent any pogrom,” Vucic said.

Just over 100,000 Serbs live in Kosovo, among a population of about 1.8 million, after more than 200,000 fled in the aftermath of the 1998-99 war between Serbian troops and ethnic Albanian separatists.

The conflict ended with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization driving out Serb forces. Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but most of the remaining Serbs there remain loyal to Serbia, which refuses to accept Kosovo’s secession.

Kurti has said that minority rights are respected in Kosovo, refuting Vucic’s claims and urging the local Serbs to comply with the government’s order for them to adopt Kosovo-issued documents.

NATO has maintained a peacekeeping force in Kosovo since the war, now amounting to about 3,800 troops. The unit, known as KFOR, said it was “prepared to intervene if stability is jeopardized” after members of the Serb minority blockaded roads earlier this month in an escalation of tensions.

Kosovo and Serbia each aspire to join the EU, but must mend ties to qualify for membership. More than a decade of talks mediated by the bloc have made little progress.

Serbia insists on some autonomy for its ethnic kin in Kosovo, while Kosovo demands that Belgrade first recognize the independence of its former province.

(Updates with Kosovo’s position on local Serbs in sixth paragraph)

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