The United States is urging Kosovo and Serbia to de-escalate tensions.
U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price said the U.S. is “disappointed” the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia failed to reach agreements during their meeting with EU High Representative Josep Borrell, according to a Nov. 21 news release.
“The United States is disappointed that the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia failed to agree with EU High Representative Borrell today on a solution to the current crisis in Kosovo,” Price said in the release. “We urge Prime Minister Kurti to work with EU High Representative Borrell and EU Special Representative Lajcak to reach a fair compromise. Both Prime Minister Kurti and President Vucic will need to make concessions to ensure that we do not jeopardize decades of hard-won peace in an already fragile region.”
Price urged both parties to refrain from provoking the other and to make concessions to ensure peace in the region. Negotiations facilitated by the EU between Kosovo and Serbia carried on for eight hours with much of the dispute regarding vehicle license plates, AP News reported.
“We join the EU in calling on Kosovo to immediately suspend any planned measures that would escalate tensions, including the imposition of vehicle fines," Price added, according to the release. "Both parties should refrain from taking provocative steps, fulfill their obligations under the EU facilitated Dialogue and engage constructively to reach a sustainable solution.”
Borrell put forward a proposal that was only accepted by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, but Borrell still maintains that both parties had shown “unconstructive behavior” and a lack of respect for international legal obligations, AP News reported. However, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti criticized Borrell for focusing too much on the license plates instead of normalizing ties between the two nations. Vucic blames Kurti for the meeting's failure.
“Sleepless nights are ahead of us,” Vucic said, according to AP News.
According to the AP News, long-standing tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have been reignited over the Kosovo government’s decision to ban Serbian-issued license plates, responding to Serbia’s earlier ban on Kosovo license plates. The ban would affect about 6,300 ethnic Serbs owning cars with Serbian plates in Kosovo, as fines would be imposed. Eventually, they would only be allowed to drive with temporary local plates.
