EU-brokered negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo ended without an agreement late last night, but EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that the gap between the two sides was now "narrow and very shallow".
Today has been a long and very intense day, Ashton said after 14 hours of talks in Brussels, adding that she hoped that an agreement could still be reached before an EU ministerial meeting on Monday.
"I hope in that time that both delegations will reflect on whether they can take the final steps necessary to finish this agreement and to move their people forward into the future," she said in a statement.
"I said last time that agreement was close, that the differences were narrow, but deep. I can say with real confidence today that the differences are narrow and very shallow," she noted.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci was quoted by Serbian news agency Tanjug as saying shortly before midnight that Pristina had accepted all the proposals, while Belgrade had rejected them.
Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said that Belgrade was ready to accept the EU's proposal concerning the powers of the association of predominantly Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo, but that Thaci torpedoed it by tying the issue to Kosovo's membership in international organisations.
The meeting was held at the invitation of Ashton who is due to report to EU foreign ministers on Monday April 22 on the outcome of Serbia-Kosovo negotiations, on which will depend the two countries' progress towards EU membership.
