Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Luxembourgish counterpart Xavier Bettel advocated for de-escalation between Serbia and Kosovo on Wednesday at the end of their two-day visit to Serbia and Kosovo.
The two-day trip comes amid simmering tensions in the region, including protests in northern Kosovo following controversial mayoral elections and the Serbian authorities’ arrest of three Kosovo policemen from within Kosovo.
“The Netherlands and Luxembourg call on both parties to engage in the EU-led dialogue and make efforts to de-escalate and to ultimately normalise relations between both countries,” Rutte stated during a press conference.
He called for both Serbia and Kosovo to return to the negotiation table and initiate a new process, emphasising several times that both sides should “make it boring”.
Bettel chimed in with his Dutch counterpart, underlining that Kosovo and Serbia need to “stick to the roadmap”, noting that “there will be no winners” in case of conflict.
“We have to avoid every new crisis where the civil population could suffer,” he added.
A day earlier, Rutte and Bettel met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade to sooth relations between the two Balkan nations. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was meant to join but was forced to stay in Belgium for “internal reasons”.
The visit comes amid criticism by leading MEPs that the EU and its envoy for the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, had taken a too one-sided approach to the matter, giving more weight to Serbian grievances in the process.
After the meeting, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that his country wants European solutions and agreements already sealed during dialogue to be implemented.
“Regarding the dialogue for the normalisation of relations with Serbia, I emphasised that Kosovo is interested in good neighbourly relations. We want a European solution, and for this, we have the basic agreement of February 27 and the implementation annexe of March 17, for which we want it to be implemented in full, without delays and without conditions”, he said.
‘No fast-track to the EU’
The three sides also discussed Kosovo’s prospects regarding EU accession. Rutte and Bettel underlined that a normalisation of relations between the country and Serbia is an inevitable first step on the path towards the EU.
“I believe [the normalisation of relations] is not only necessary for peace and stability in the region but also for the prospect of further EU integration,” Rutte said.
It was also made clear that there was still work to be done.
While Rutte underlined the potential growth of economic cooperation, Bettel emphasised that “the backbone of the EU is not economic, but based on values,” adding that there are already “countries that need to be reminded of what our values are” inside the EU.
“There is no fast track to the European Union,“ he stated.
(Benedikt Stöckl, Luka Krauss | EURACTIV.com, Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
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