Representatives of Serbia and Kosovo began in Brussels on Friday a new round of negotiations under the European Union's auspices, negotiations that were interrupted in July after the two sides were unable of agree on customs seals, which makes trade impossible.
Serbia does not allow the entry of products bearing Kosovo's seal, which Pristina countered by imposing an embargo on Serbian goods. After that, the Kosovo government sent its customs agents to the Jarinje and Brnjak crossings to enact the embargo, causing resistance among Serbs in northern Kosovo. Those two border crossings are now under the supervision of the NATO-led Kosovo Force.
The head of the Serbian negotiating delegation, Borko Stefanovic, said he was optimistic that agreement would be reached on the customs seals.
"We hope to have some concrete results today, notably about the customs seals and land books, and that after this agreement the situation will go back to normal, that tensions will be defused and the flow of goods begin," he said.
The head of the Kosovo delegation, Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri, said the last negotiating round was cancelled because Belgrade "didn't want a compromise and today we will see if it has changed its mind about the customs seals."
She added the talks would also address energy, telecommunications and Kosovo's involvement in regional initiatives.
Serbia insists that Kosovo attend all meetings under the UNMIK sign, which Pristina finds unacceptable.
Serbia is under pressure from the EU to normalise relations with Kosovo if it wants to obtain EU membership candidate status by year's end. Belgrade expected the arrest of war crimes fugitives Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic to suffice, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Serbia recently that it was necessary to normalise relations with Pristina and dissolve parallel structures in northern Kosovo.
