EU pushes for further negotiations on Kosovo

The EU has called on Serbia and Kosovo to engage in new negotiations over the future status of the Serbian province, after a UN resolution failed to win the support of Russia. The EU and the US are seeking to avoid a unilateral move towards Kosovo independence.

On 23 July, European foreign ministers appealed to Belgrade and Pristina to “engage actively and seriously” in the negotiating process, which should continue for another 120 days. Ministers vowed to stand united on this sensitive issue and agreed that the EU “should be part of the international team facilitating negotiations”.

EU Foreign Affairs High Representative Javier Solana lamented the failure to find an agreement in the UN Security Council, but underlined that the EU wanted to “give negotiations a chance”.

However, there seems to be no agreement among EU member states whether the talks should remain within the framework of the Contact Group, consisting of the UK, France, Italy, Germany, the US and Russia. 

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he supported an international Troika, including the US, the EU and Russia to assist the negotiations with the parties concerned. But France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner seemed to be more sceptical of this idea. “If it is the troika, it has to be the European Union, not one country,” he said.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt warned against a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo: “I think our experience with unilateralism in the Balkans is not necessarily a very good one, to put it in as mild as possible terms.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also warned against a unilateral move at a meeting with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu on 23 July.

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