Kosovo/Serbia: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell after meetings with President of Serbia and Prime Minister of Kosovo

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We are very much concerned by the impasse of the normalisation process between Kosovo and Serbia, and the recent terrorist attacks, that we have condemned again in the meeting, that today we had separately with Prime Minister [of Kosovo Albin] Kurti, together with [French] President [Emmanuel] Macron, the [German] Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz, Prime Minister [of Italy Giorgia] Meloni; and after with [Serbian] President [Aleksandar] Vučić in order to discuss with them the situation, displaying once again that the only way forward is the normalisation with the Dialogue, that the European way - it requires normalisation of the relationship between the two of them.

There is a great obstacle which is the establishment of the Association of municipalities of Serbian majority in the north of Kosovo. And in order to help the two parties to reach an agreement, we all together, we presented a new European serious and balanced proposal for the establishment of this Association of Municipalities and insisted on the parties to take this occasion, which would be a great leap forward in the normalisation process, and to avoid the new spirals of violence.

But unhappily, the parties were not ready to agree on that without preconditions, that there were unacceptable by the other party. At the end, we require the parties to sincerely engage in the normalisation process. That can only be done in the framework of the Dialogue, because it is the only way for them to advance on their European path.

We will continue insisting and working in order to get an agreement. But today, unhappily, it has not been possible without, as I said, preconditions from each party that were unacceptable for the other.