Western envoys went to Kosovo and Serbia on Friday as a part of their ongoing efforts to defuse tensions between the 2 international locations and try to assist them attain a reconciliation settlement.
Representatives from the US and Europe first met Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti within the capital Pristina to debate the proposal for the normalisation of relations that they introduced to him late final yr.
Afterwards, EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak mentioned he’d hoped for a extra encouraging response.
“I wish to say nonetheless at this level is that we had anticipated a greater understanding of the alternatives this proposal presents,” Lajcak instructed reporters. “I hope we’ll get there to full understanding and full use of the potential of this proposal. We’re going to proceed to work on this.”
After the assembly, the representatives headed to Belgrade.
Though Kosovo is made up of largely of ethnic Albanians, there’s a big Serbian neighborhood residing within the north and friction with Pristina has been fixed because the territory proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.
Belgrade has not but recognised it.
The scenario within the north stays unstable as there are only some dozen cops of the European Union rule of regulation mission, often known as EULEX, taking good care of the realm’s safety in spite of everything ethnic Serb representatives resigned from their posts in November.
Rigidity spiked late final yr when Kosovo Serbs erected roadblocks in protest on the arrest of a former policeman. KFOR peacekeepers lifted the barricades.
