Leaders of Serbia & Kosovo to resume talks on Sunday – Berlin

The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo agreed during a video conference hosted by Germany and France to resume talks on normalizing their ties, the German government said in a statement on Friday.

The breakaway province of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 1999 after a NATO-led bombing campaign. Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, a precondition for Serbia’s future membership of the European Union.

Paris and Berlin “encourage” Belgrade and Pristina “to make substantial progress in negotiations,” the German government statement added.

A French presidential official also said after the virtual meeting that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo PM Avdullah Hoti “will meet face-to-face in Brussels next week” following online talks with the EU on Sunday, AFP reported.