Washington's Kosovo-Serbia mortorium expires what follows?

All of this was an official Washington effort within the normalisation of Kosovo-Serbia relations, which is continuing today.

Following the expiration of this mortorium, the US State Department encouraged in a statement for the Voice of America, Kosovo and Serbia “to continue the mortorium”.

“in order to support the success of dialogue and other efforts, we encourage both sides to keep their recipients on the issue of recognition that complicates progress in technical fields”, a spokesman said The DEA.

Sixteen points in two versions -- one for the Kosovar side and one for the Serb party -- was signed at 04.09.20, a year ago at the White House, in the presence of former US President Donald Trump, by former Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbia's current president, Aleksandar Vucic.

The US State Department hopes for co-operation with Kosovo and Serbia, “in meeting their obligations, supporting, the goal of comprehensive normalisation of relations”.

“Hopefully our partners will respect the obligations they accepted last year in Washington in trust. Numerous elements of the agreement support priorities of our wider vision of the region, energy diversification, regional connection, application of a moratorium for membership in international organisations, and campaigning to attract recognition of Kosovo's independence, as well as finding and identifying missing persons “, the UN statement said. Further, it requires both countries “serious and substantial participation in the EU-brokered dialogue process”, encouraging Kosovo and Serbia “to mark co-operation in areas of common interest, such as recovery from pandemic and improving economic and trade relations”.

Kosovo, Serbia fail to comment end of mortorium

The United States is ready to support work on reaching a comprehensive, binding agreement on normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia, focused on mutual recognition, which lays the foundation for sustainable co-operation and progress”, the UN statement said.

The government of Kosovo and Serbia, in turn, have not provided any comment on this statement by the American State Department concerning the mortorium.

But earlier by the Kosovo Foreign Ministry, it was said that Kosovo is making preparations for application for membership in international organisations without details given, while Serbia, in turn, is ready to launch the Kosovo recognition campaign.

Serbia's President Aleksandar Vuciq during a forum in Slovenia last week said he has information that the official “Pristina will begin with new requests for admission into international organisations, initiated by INTERPOL, UNESCO and the Council of Europe”. This Kosovo initiative, according to Serbian President Vuciq “, breaks the implementation of Washington's agreement and will bring additional instability to the region. Our job is to prepare and respond to this”, Vucic said.

Kosovo and Serbia have been holding talks since 2011 on normalising relations under the European Union's mediation. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia would, among other things, resolve the issue of Kosovo's legal representation in different regional initiatives.

Kosovo and Serbia are also preparing for a possible high-level meeting during September between the two main political leaders of the two countries -- Prime Minister Albin Kurti and President Aleksandar Vucic. This was disclosed by the leaders of both countries, during the European Union's strategic forum in Slovenia, attended by leaders of Balkan countries and leaders. /dw/