Meeting between Prime Minister Kurti and President Vučić

18 August 2022

The meeting on 18 August 2022 marks the third time that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vučić, are negotiating in Brussels, within the dialogue mediated by the European Union. The meeting was initiated by the chief diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell, as the reason for the increase in tensions in the north of Kosovo. On July 31, 2022, local Serbs in the north set up barricades as a sign of dissatisfaction with the decision of the Government of Kosovo to implement the decisions on car plates and Serbian documents. Kosovo and Serbia have an agreement on free movement since 2011. Serbia has implemented it immediately, while Kosovo began implementing these agreements on August 1, 2022.  As a result of the request from negotiating and supporting parties to the dialogue, the decision is postponed until September 1 in order to reduce tensions in the north of Kosovo. As a result of the postpone decision made, the local Serbs removed the barricades.

After the dialogue meeting on August 18, the chief diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell, said that no agreement has been reached on the issue of license plates, or even in documents for Serbian citizens. He added that after three rounds of meetings, in the absence of an agreement, the dialogue will continue. Speaking alone in the press conference room, Borrel warned that in the event of an escalation of tensions, the party that instigates them will be held responsible