The Guardian: Will the exchange of territories lead to the Kosovo-Serbia conflict?

Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, is making preparations for his visit to Kosovo next month, at a time when the idea of exchanging territories has sparked controversy and numerous debates.

Guardian writes Vuciq, Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci They have decided on continuing talks in Brussels in an effort to reach an agreement on normalising reports between the two states, and pave the way for long-term EU membership.

The British newspaper commemorates that there are concerns about Kosovo's eventual division, which, according to critics, would open Pandora's “cuate” in the Balkans, which could lead to problems in Bosnia and Macedonia.

Vuciq will use his visit on 9 September to show the Serbian state's political attitudes towards Kosovo. Earlier this month, he spoke of overhauling the borders, which means crossing the Serb minority-dominated north in Serbia.

The agreement would be final and historical, as it would end no agreements between Kosovo and Serbia once and for all”, said Bekim Colak, chief of staff of the president of Kosovo.

Both sides, including the international community, are thinking a lot, even outside the frames, carefully creatively, trying to find an acceptable solution for both sides. Kosovo's goals are clear -- there are no divisions along ethnic lines, but it is about peaceful border regulation and mutual recognition”, he adds.

Reports suggest the Presevo Valley, dominated by Albanians, would join Kosovo as part of the exchange of territories.

Despite German Chancellor Angela Merkel's opposition to changing borders, Serbian diplomacy chief Ivica Dacic has met with US President Donald Trump's adviser, Jared Kouchner in July to discuss the division.

“They are discussing and various options are on the table, “said a source of the Serbian government.

The U.S. position is changing completely against sharing in readiness to discuss this option. France is also very positive. Germany is not, “this source comes up.

A Kosovo Government source confirmed that “s in the international community are increasingly open to the idea for split”.

Both sides consider that reaching the final agreement remains a serious challenge, but neither has concrete proposals and that Belgrade is keeping the negotiations tactics secret.

We have many problems in the country. Nobody is ready to think only about the solution,” says a Serbian source.

Critics warn that the correction of borders on ethnic lines would be a dangerous precedent for other parts of the Balkans, following bloody wars following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

The poor “Plan of the ethnic-territorial division in Kosovo will turn us into the horror of the 1990s”, Igumeni Sava Janjiq said from the Serbian Orthodox monastery Decani.

According to him, the idea of ethnically clean territories would become a model that would create strong effects across Europe and strengthen radical ideology, so the international community should take a strong stance.

But Colak insists an acceptable solution will not destabilise the region and have no domino effect.

Any agreement about territories is being viewed closely in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where local Serbs constantly threaten division.

Kosovo's “daring could open Pandora's Box in the Balkans in search of solutions on ethnic principles,” says a former foreign minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Any division would also be distasteful in Kosovo, where Thaci's power is diminishing. The president was the political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) during wartime, but is facing a possible threat from a newly created court for alleged crimes by KLA members, including leaders of the current political elite, writes Guardian.

“The moving force for the new dialogue appears to be Vuciki's goal of drawing closer to the EU and deeper into Kosovo, and Thaci's desire to leave the specialised court and extend his power”, said Albin Kurti, leader of Vetevendosje.