What is expected to be discussed and what the EU expects today from the third Kurti-Vucciq meeting.

The August 18th meeting marks the third time Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq negotiate in Brussels, within the dialogue mediating the European Union.

Kurti and Vuciq met twice last year, but without any concrete results.

Thursday's meeting has been requested by European Union Chief diplomat Josep Borrell, following increasing tensions in northern Kosovo on July 31st.

Why tensions?

Local Serbs set barricades as a sign of dissatisfaction with the Kosovo Government's decision to implement two decisions -- for car plates and Serbian documents.

Kosovo and Serbia have free movement agreements since 2011.

Serbia has implemented it immediately.

Kosovo has implemented the decision on August 1st for a few hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . the point for the entry/ outline document and has postponed implementation of September 1st, with the aim of reducing tensions in the north.

Meanwhile, Serbs have removed the barricades.

The United States and the European Union have also urged such a postponement, though they have said Kosovo has the right to implement those decisions.

What will be discussed on August 18th?

On August 17th, Kurti and Vucic have held separate meetings with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and later with the European Union's envoy for dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, as well as United States envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar.

Kurti has said ahead of the media that at the meeting with Lajcak and Escobar, it has been discussed about <x0 framework elements for the agreement to normalise relations, which should have mutual recognition centred, as well as on current questions”.

“expects to address all bilateral relations, with all difficulties and barriers”, he has said, referring to Thursday's meeting.

Kurti has insisted that Kosovo is for reciprocity with Serbia.

Asked whether it is possible for Kosovo to push back on implementing decisions on Serbian license plates and documents, Prime Minister Kurti, has said that “we are discussing solutions, not delaying”.

It's not like we've been pushing for more delays. The extension was made on July 31st on September 1st, and we witnessed on August 1st that we do not seize documents, such as the dezinformation campaign. On the other hand, it is possible that on September 1st we will not issue documents, because Serbia will also give up issuing documents at border crossings with Kosovo. We want mutual relations”.

Lajcak has said he wants an agreement at the August 18th meeting, but has not specified what.

He has said that through dialogue he wants the tense situation of July 31st to be avoided on September 1st.

After meetings with the two officials, Vuciq has said he has reconfirmed Serbia's “determination to do everything to preserve peace and stability throughout the region, as well as achieve compromise solutions through dialogue, without pressure and ultimatum”.

It has become known on the official site of the European Union that the meeting will begin at 10:30 Thursday and will focus on the road ahead on dialogue and the achievement of a comprehensive normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

According to the announcement, current issues will be addressed during the meeting and tensions between the parties' tensions will be aimed.

EU High Representative Borrell will also hold separate meetings with each leader.

Serbian President Vuciq has stated several times before the media that he will request that the Association of Serb majority municipalities be discussed.

Escobar has said on August 17th that at the meeting with Kurti, it has also been discussed about the Association of Serb-run municipalities.

According to him, the association should be formed in accordance with Kosovo's laws and constitution.

We think that within Europe there are many models that can be used to find a stable and productive solution for all parties involved”.

Serbia wants Kosovo to implement agreements reached on the issue of Association.

But, the Kosovo government has been declared against a single-ethnic association.

Kosovo and Serbia have agreements for Association in 2013 and later 2015 on principles for its establishment.

But in 2015, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has found that the agreement is not in full harmony with the Constitution.

How have tensions in the north been commented?

Chief NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has said Wednesday it belongs to Belgrade and Pristina to avoid escalation of the situation and that the mission NATO in Kosovo, KFOR, is monitoring the situation and is willing to intervene in the event of destabilisation.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said in an interview for Radio Free Europe on August 8th that there has been danger of escalation of the armed conflict situation”, due to the fear injected by Belgrade, and because of plans made in Racke and in Belgrade”.

Meetings between state officials of Serbia and representatives of Kosovo Serbs have been held on the day of barricades in the north.

Serbian President Vuciq has said he has information on Kosovo's plans to “licate” Serbs in the north.

What does the EU expect?

Chief diplomat Borrell has invited the leaders of two states to the meeting, though months ago he has said he will not do so until he notices that negotiators are willing to move this process forward.

European Union spokesman Peter Stano has said that the European bloc does not impose solutions on partners, while speaking of the EU's role in resolving differences between Kosovo and Serbia.

According to him, the EU only helps reach a compromise.

Many issues that are causing frustration in relations between Belgrade and Pristina are addressed in the EU-mediated dialogue. That's why it's called mediated dialogue, not mandatory. We can mediate as long as there is readiness from both sides to find compromise solutions”.

Even though high-level dialogue has now been blocked, the negotiating teams of both countries have met several times in Brussels.

Kosovo's team is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi, while Serbia's director of the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government, Petar Petkov.

These teams have reached compliance in June for implementation of the energy agreement.

However, the EU has acknowledged that implementation is being delayed.

Five years of blockade

Dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia started 11 years ago.

More than 20 agreements have been reached in areas such as energy, telecommunications, justice, customs, freedom of movement, but not all have been implemented.

By 2018, dialogue has been led in various combinations by former Kosovo prime ministers Hashim Thaci and Isa Mustafa and former Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Serbia's current president, Aleksandar Vuciq.

Robert Cooper, a retired British diplomat, has been the mediator in negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, when Catherine Ashton has been the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security.

The dialogue was interrupted in 2018 and resumed in 2020.

In November 2018, former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj imposed a 100 per cent tax on Serbian goods.

For that reason Serbia has not wanted to return to the negotiating table, while Kosovo has refused to cancel the tax.

In 2019, the dialogue was mediated by then chief of European diplomacy Federica Moghrini.

A year later, the EU has named Miroslav Lajcak as special mediator in the dialogue.

That same year, the United States has named Richard Green as their envoy for the process.

The dialogue, however, has not continued, as in October 2019 elections were held in Kosovo, which Albin Kurti has won, as well as the EU has elected new officials.

On December 1, 2019, Moghrin was replaced by the Spaniard Josep Borrell.

After Kurti has been elected prime minister of Kosovo, the dialogue has continued in 2021, though he has met Vucinqiqi only twice.

Residents of the Kosovo and Serbian capitals -- Pristina and Belgrade -- believe an agreement between the two states is possible, but are aware that the road to it is difficult.

In the autumn of 2020, when political dialogue was still suspended, polls had shown that citizens do not really believe in dialogue and know very little about it.

The dialogue epilogue?

Kosovo insists that dialogue on normalising relations be closed with mutual recognition between the two countries.

Serbia, on the other hand, seeks compromise solutions.

The European Union has said that progress in dialogue is key for advancement on the road towards membership in the European bloc.

Serbia has officially applied for EU membership in 2009. In March 2012, she was granted candidate status.

Kosovo has only signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, which is the first step towards membership in the bloc. / REL