No agreement reached at Belgrade-Pristina talks in Brussels, says Vucic

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
©Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images

Belgrade and Pristina failed to reach an agreement at top-level talks in Brussels in the presence of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters on Monday.

"For reasons I do not understand, we failed to reach an agreement," Vucic said.

"The Serbian side was absolutely constructive, we accepted tens of updates [to the treaty], but the Albanian side refused to accept anything even for a second, they always wanted to add something that is impossible," Vucic stated.

The president stressed that during the negotiations it was clear which side really wanted to reach an agreement, and the only thing that Belgrade insisted on was "that all the agreements signed earlier should be respected," he added. The Serbian leader said that he would analyze all documents, "put together all impressions" and address the nation later on Monday or Tuesday evening.

On November 14, EU’s Borrell said at a press conference following an EU Council meeting that Belgrade and Pristina representatives would begin EU-mediated talks on the dialogue between Serbia and unrecognized Kosovo in Brussels on Monday. According to him, November 29 is the deadline by which an agreement must be hammered out in order to avoid a serious crisis.

Earlier, Kosovo authorities decided to fine those who did not change their Serbian license plates, issuing warnings starting November 1. Fines will amount to 150 euros, and citizens will be instructed to replace Serbian plates with the registration plates of the unrecognized Kosovo. After April 21, 2023, when the transition period is over, the Kosovo police will be authorized to seize cars with Serbian plates.

In response, Kosovo and Metohija Serbs quitted all government institutions of unrecognized Kosovo on November 5.

In accordance with the Brussels agreements on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina of April 19, 2013, the Community of Serb Municipalities, a self-governing body of Serbs living in the unrecognized republic, is to be established in Kosovo. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has repeatedly stated that his country has fulfilled its part of the Brussels agreements, while the Kosovars only started to work out the charter for the Community of Serb Municipalities and then suspended the process.