EU Excited by 1st Direct Serbia-Kosovo Talks, Negotiators Optimistic

NATO Italian Army vehicles drive under Albanian flags (top front), placed in the southern Albanian-dominated part and Serbian flags (top back) in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, 07 March 2011. EPA/BGNES

Serbia and its former province Kosovo have started their much anticipated first direct talks brought about by heavy EU pressure.

The talks, which are to focus primary on technical regulations rather than on political issues, began in Brussels Tuesday after negotiators on both sides expressed goodwill intentions and optimism.

The two delegations are led by Borko Stefanovic, a director in the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by Edita Tahiri, Deputy PM of Kosovo.

Tahiri has told the Serbian paper Danas that the Kosovo delegation is convinced the talks will help normalize the bilateral relations, and that it is approaching them with a positive and constructive attitude.

Stefanovic in turn has told the Blik newspaper that he is convinced the two parties will reach a handshake deal at the end.

The EU-brokered talks come at a time when Serbia is hoping for fast progress on its EU integration, and Kosovo's government is trying to dispel accusations that its Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was involved in human organ harvesting and trafficking when he was the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the late 1990s.

The European Union hailed Tuesday the expected start of talks it is brokering between Serbia and Kosovo, overlooking the logistical problems which caused the event to be delayed by a few hours, the German agency DPA points out.

However, a snag affected the launch of the process, as Kosovan Deputy Premier Edita Tahiri did not show up in time, leaving EU and Serbian delegations waiting. Tahiri was reportedly late because a Kosovo parliament debate running longer than expected caused her to miss her flight out of Pristina late on Monday.

The EU wants the two sides to sidestep major diplomatic issues such as the status of Kosovo, which Serbia does not recognize, and address real-life problems that plague the population of both ethnicities and on both sides of the boundary.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton 'believes now is the right time to begin and she is confident that both Belgrade and Pristina can find practical ways to make sure that ordinary life can go on more smoothly,' her spokesman said in a statement.

With its 90-per cent Albanian majority, Kosovo was the scene of a war for independence from Serbia in 1998-99, which eventually drew NATO to oust Belgrade's security forces from the province.

After the conflict, the territory was governed by the United Nations until it declared independence in 2008, winning recognition by the United States and the majority of EU states, while Belgrade vowed to continue fighting the secession.

The Bulgarian National Radio correspondent in Belgrade has pointed out that while Prishtina views the upcoming talks as purely technical Belgrade sees them as a new development on the status of Kosovo. Serbia remains vigorously opposed to the recognition of the independence of its former province.

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