Kosovo and Serbia agreed on a plan to normalize relations

Kosovo and Serbia agreed on a plan to normalize relations.

This was announced by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.

"There is an agreement. Kosovo and Serbia agreed on an implementation annex to the agreement on the way to normalizing relations. The parties are fully committed to complying with all articles of the agreement and to fulfill their respective obligations promptly and in good faith,” he wrote on Twitter.

This agreement commits Kosovo to immediately begin negotiations to grant the Serbian community in Kosovo an appropriate level of self-government. Within 30 days, Belgrade and Pristina must establish a joint monitoring committee chaired by the EU. The parties also agreed to approve the declaration of missing persons urgently. For its part, the EU will organize a donor conference on investment and financial assistance to Kosovo and Serbia within 150 days. But until the parties fulfill all provisions of the agreement on the normalization of relations, no payments will be made.

• On February 27, 2023, a high-level meeting was held in Brussels as part of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. The topic of the meeting was the European proposal for the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. According to the plan ( here it is ), the parties should develop normal, good-neighborly relations with each other on the basis of equality, as well as mutually recognize documents and national symbols, including passports, diplomas, license plates and customs seals. In addition, the European proposal provides for the resolution of any disputes among themselves exclusively by peaceful means and refraining from the threat of force or its use. The plan also stipulates that Serbia will not object to Kosovoʼs membership in any international organization.
• At the meeting, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo said they did not object to the plan, but refused to legally sign it as an agreement. In March, they should agree on a road map with the terms of implementation of the plan.
• In return, Kosovo agrees to the creation of a mechanism for "adequate self-government" of the Kosovo Serbs and their direct financial support from Serbia. Also, in Kosovo, the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the protection of Serbian religious monuments should be legally established. And the EU undertook to create a special fund to finance joint projects of Serbia and Kosovo.
• On March 1, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that he would not sign a plan to normalize relations with Kosovo due to clauses related to mutual recognition and Kosovoʼs entry into the UN.