Serbia Seeks Restart of Kosovo Talks, New Ballot in Border Area

(Bloomberg) -- Serbia is ready to return to European Union-brokered negotiations with Kosovo and is urging the Serb minority in the Balkan neighbor to take part in local elections to help defuse tensions after a recent gun battle.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Israel Latest: US States Show Support With Bond Purchases

• Top House Republican Wants Help From Democrats to Pick a Speaker

• NYC Boosts Security Ahead of ‘All Out for Palestine’ Protest

• Wider War in Middle East Could Tip the World Economy Into Recession

• Jeff Bezos Buys His Florida Neighbor’s Mansion for $79 Million

“It’s important that we return to the dialogue and that Serbs seek participation in elections, so that we are the ones who show initiative, and to do that as soon as possible,” Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said in live interview to Belgrade-based Prva TV late Thursday.

The worst violence in Kosovo in almost two decades erupted last month when shooting between a group of armed Serbs and Kosovo police killed an officer and three assailants. Kosovo and Serbia leaders blamed each other for the escalation, while the US and EU demanded an immediate end of hostilities and the restart of decade-long talks between the wartime foes under EU auspices.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after a war over the territory, but Serbia refuses to accept the secession. Both need to mend ties to qualify for EU membership, but their biggest current dispute is the fate of ethnic Serbs living in the mostly ethnic Albanian-populated Kosovo.

The Serb community boycotted April elections in four Kosovo municipalities where they live and tried to prevent ethnic Albanian mayors from taking office. Incidents over control of the tense border area near Serbia left dozens injured earlier this year, including NATO peace-keepers deployed since the 1998-1999 war.

“I would like to ask our people to come up with an initiative to have elections organized in northern Kosovo in the four municipalities,” Vucic said, urging Kosovo Serbs to end their boycott. “That’s my appeal, so that elementary levers of power in Kosovo’s north come into the hands of those who live there.”

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

• The K-Pop Mogul Behind BTS Is Building the Next BTS

• The War in Israel Shows How Social Media’s Idealistic Era Has Ended

• Pro-Putin Propaganda Flows Onto Android via Google Loophole

• Business Schools Aim to Build Entrepreneurs With Expanded Programs

• Has Bob Iger Lost the Magic?

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.