Belgrade–Pristina dialogue is a series of EU-facilitated talks between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo. Serbia claims Kosovo as its southern province under United Nations administration, and rejects its independence. Kosovo considers Serbia as a neighboring state. The negotiations began in March 2011. They are the first negotiations between the two entities since Kosovo declared independence.
Contents
Background
The Republic of Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008, and that move has only been partially recognised internationally. Serbia took the issue to the International Court of Justice for their advisory opinion. The court's verdict was that it wasn't illegal for Kosovo to declare independence. After the verdict Serbia and the European Union submitted a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly which called for technical negotiations between the governments in Belgrade and Pristina. The Serbia-EU resolution passed in the UN General Assembly. The talks were delayed due to Kosovo's government collapsing, forcing Kosovo into early elections.
Negotiations
The talks take place in Brussels, Belgium and are mediated by the European Union represented by Robert Cooper. Borko Stefanović leads the Belgrade negotiating team and Edita Tahiri leads the Pristina negotiating team. The talks began on 8 March 2011 and feature three main issues:
First Round
The First Round of dialogue took place on 8–9 March 2011 and covered economic co-operation between the two parties. Other issues on the agenda during the first round of dialogue were telecommunications, air traffic, customs seals, land books and civil records.
Second Round
The second round of negotiations was delayed until 28 March 2011. Issues discussed in the second round of talks were electricity and possibly Freedom of Movement, as well as concluding first round topics such as Kosovo's customs seal, air traffic and Kosovo's participation in regional initiatives. On 28 March, the representative discussed land books and registries of births, deaths and marriages, as well as power supply issues. Stefanović stated that "Certain progress has been achieved on land books, birth registries and electric energy supply; we laid out our proposal and hope that there will finally be a positive wrap-up of these topics at the next meeting".
Third Round
The third round of talks took place on 15 April 2011 and the issues discussed were freedom of movement, registration plates for vehicles and the recognition of diplomas.
Fourth Round
The fourth round was held on 17 and 18 May 2011. Agreement was almost reached on the cadaster and freedom of movement; the European Union proposed to also tackle the issues of missing people and cultural heritage.
Fifth Round
The fifth round was set to take place on 14 and 15 June 2011, but was delayed a few days before. It was assumed that it would instead be held in late June, but was then set for 2 July 2011. It was expected that solutions would be reached on the cadaster, freedom of movement and vital records. Electricity and telecommunications issues might also be resolved in that round. Agreement was reached on freedom of movement across the border (both persons and cars), exchange of information regarding Serbia's civil registries to help Kosovo establish its own civil registry, and recognising each other's education diplomas.
Sixth Round
The sixth round was to take place on 20 and 21 July 2011. They were postponed to September just a day before, allegedly because Kosovo's representative wanted to have Kosovo's state symbols shown, which the Serbian representative rejected. They were later set for 2 September 2011. Agreement was reached on the customs issue (the stamp will only feature the words "Customs of Kosovo") and on the cadaster; while telecommunications and university degrees were also discussed, no agreement was reached on these issues.
Seventh Round
The seventh round was scheduled for 28 September 2011 (it was initially scheduled for 27 September, but was postponed shortly before due to a flare-up in violence). The Serb delegation refused to continue with the talks whilst Kosovo police and customs officials control border posts, which was not previously agreed and resulted in violence. The talks were then set for 14 October 2011, though only technical issues were planned to be discussed.
Outcome
Further aims
It is expected additional agreements to be concluded about: