Kosovo, Serbia 'need to normalise' relations, says PM

PRISTINA: Kosovo and Serbia need to 'normalise' their relations, Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Wednesday, several days before legislative elections where he is seeking to extend his term with more solid backing. 'We need to normalise relations with Serbia,' said Kurti. 'But normalising relations with a neighbouring authoritarian regime that doesn't recognise you, that also doesn't admit to the crimes committed during the war, is quite difficult,' he added.
Tensions between the two neighbours are regularly high, and renewed unrest would provide Russia with means of destabilising his country. 'We do have a normalisation agreement,' Kurti said, referring to the agreement signed under the auspices of the European Union in 2023. 'We must implement it, which implies mutual recognition between the countries, at least de facto recognition.' But to resume dialogue, Serbia 'must hand over Milan Radoicic,' a Serb accused of plotting an attack in northern Kosovo in 2023, Kurti asserted, hoping that 'the EU, France, and Germany will put pressure' on Belgrade to do so. 'There are many links' between the two countries, said Kurti, and if Russia were to decide to destabilise the region, 'in its march toward Western Europe, it can count on Serbia as an ally. — AFP