"Congratulations on the agreement reached yesterday evening in Ohrid in the dialogue facilitated by the EU. The agreement on the path to normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia and its annex are important for peace, stability and prosperity for the whole Western Balkans region. Implementation is now crucial".
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel
writes this in a tweet
, welcoming the agreement reached late yesterday in Ohrid, in North Macedonia, between the Serbian president,
Aleksandar Vucic
, and the prime minister of Kosovo,
Albin Kurt
i, with the mediation of the EU high representative, Josep Borrell.
ANSA Agency
Serbia-Kosovo river negotiation, then EU announces agreement - World
Aleksandar Vucic Twelve hours of negotiations to find an end to the almost quarter of a century long skein and to arrive, announced by the EU during the night, at a very tiring agreement.
(HANDLE)
"Let's hope that the devil is not hiding in the details and that the agreed but unsigned agreement is not another Balkan deception! Otherwise it would be a historic milestone that would herald a long-awaited spring in relations between the two major Balkan nations, Albania and Serbia".
The Albanian premier, Edi Rama
, wrote this in a tweet
, hailing the agreement reached last night in Ohrid on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
Rama "sincerely congratulates the four protagonists at the Ohrid table", hoping that soon "the unsigned agreement will turn into a new irreversible reality between Kosovo and Serbia, Albanians and Serbs, the Western Balkans and the EU".
Vucic, I do not sign agreements with the so-called Republic of Kosovo
- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that in yesterday's meeting in Ohrid with Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, as well as elsewhere, he reiterated Serbia's red lines concerning the no to the recognition of the independence of Kosovo and its admission to the UN.
"I say it again today, that no one can impose a legal obligation on Serbia. For this reason we have not signed what the EU calls an agreement or the annex. Serbia is ready to work on implementation up to the red lines", he said Vucic said in a press conference in Belgrade the day after yesterday's negotiating marathon in the Macedonian town, which ended late in the evening.
Serbia, Vucic observed, is a state legally recognized internationally, and for this reason it does not intend to enter into international legal agreements with the so-called Republic of Kosovo.
"I have not signed as I do not want to approve international legal agreements with Kosovo. I am careful with every word I speak. It is difficult to prove the existence of an agreement without any signature, but everywhere I unequivocally underline the red lines of Serbia which refer in all clarity to the non-recognition of Kosovo", said the president.
Yesterday's talks, he said, as on all other occasions, were not easy as the two sides almost always have opposing interests.
However, he added, the parties noted that the agreement and its annex will become a constitutive part of the EU accession process.
"We will no longer depend on Pristina's good will, and this is a positive change in the negotiating framework, but on what we will be able to do", Vucic said, underlining how the Kosovar side has undertaken to take concrete action for the creation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities in Kosovo.
In his speech, Vucic read the text of the attachment, noting how Serbia and Kosovo are committed to implementing all the obligations envisaged.
Over the next few days, he added,
will have consultations with representatives of all parliamentary groups to agree on the course of action.
"Now we know that our European path will depend on what we are able to do", said Vucic,
