NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has demanded «responsibility» and «pragmatism» from the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo following the lack of agreement at their meeting in Brussels on Monday to resolve the tuition dispute despite the European Union putting a compromise proposal on the table to defuse the crisis.
«We are disappointed that it has not been possible to resolve the dispute over license plates,» Stoltenberg said in a message on social networks after contact with the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, facilitator of the dialogue between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
According to NATO’s political chief, now is the time for «responsibility» and «pragmatic solutions», with the focus on avoiding an escalation of tensions in northern Kosovo. The Kosovar authorities will start imposing sanctions on those who violate the rule to impose Kosovar documents and license plates, an issue that already generated a spiral of violence in the summer, with demonstrations and road blockades, and threatens to exacerbate tensions again.
Then the Atlantic Alliance’s mission in Kosovo, KFOR, already increased its presence in the area and carried out patrolling tasks, insisting on its ability to intervene to ensure stability in northern Kosovo. Now Stoltenberg has stressed that the mission «remains vigilant».
Today’s meetings in the EU capital lasted more than eight hours and ended without an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. Brussels has accused Kurti of derailing the compromise proposal put on the table to calm the conflict, an initiative that Vucic did support.
