Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Luxembourg colleague Xavier Bettel are traveling to Serbia and Kosovo in a bid to ease tensions between the two countries. There is also talk of migration and war in Ukraine.
The trip had been planned for some time but now comes at a time when the relationship between the two countries has reached an all-time low. Relations have never been warm. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which has never accepted this move.
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A Serb minority lives in northern Kosovo. Relations with the Kosovo government are bad. At the end of May, the situation exploded when ethnic Albanian mayors took office after local elections in which Serbs had stayed at home en masse. Town halls with new mayors were attacked by Serbs and NATO peacekeepers were injured. When peace was somehow restored, Serbia arrested three Kosovo agents. They were released last week after two weeks.
Mediate
The EU is trying to mediate the conflict and is pushing for new local elections. Talks nearly two weeks ago in Brussels under EU supervision between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti yielded little. They didn’t talk to each other.
The importance of the Western Balkans to the European Union has increased considerably since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Europe wants to prevent the expansion of mainly Russian and, to a lesser extent, Chinese influence and any further instability on its borders. Serbia is important in terms of migration because many people have come to the EU through this route. By the way, by tightening the visa policy, it has slightly decreased, for which the Belgrade government has earned credit in Brussels.
Candidate
Furthermore, Serbia is also a candidate EU member, but has traditionally maintained close ties with Moscow. Russia supports Belgrade’s refusal to recognize Kosovo’s independence. But Serbia’s decision to condemn the invasion of Ukraine failed in Moscow, even though Serbia does not support EU sanctions against Russia. Serbian-made ammunition would also go to Ukraine through intermediaries
Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
