Several thousand people gathered in Belgrade Friday evening to get together against the Kosovo-Serbia talks on a 11-point agreement proposed speak European Union.
The plan aims to improve the broken links between Serbia and Kosovo, former part of Kosovo which declared independence in 2008.
Why are Serbian nationalists protesting?
The protests come ahead of a meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Saturday in North Macedonia.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to chair meeting targeting two Balkan countries renew existing links to achieve their objectives of EU membership.
Protesters gathered to criticize Vucic’s policies and urged him to “reject everything” at the next meeting.
Banners reading “No to capitulation” and “Kosovo is not for sale” were also held up by the demonstrators.
“This agreement definitely constitutes recognition (of Kosovo), whether you say it explicitly or indirectly imply it, it remains recognition and it is not acceptable,” said Milos Jovanovic, one of the organizers of the protest and head of the organization. the Democratic Party of Serbia.
A long-standing problem
Tensions exist between groups in the region for decades after the 1998-99 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents. The war ended when NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 following the expulsion of Kosovo Albanians.
Since 2008, when Kosovo declared its independence of Serbia, Belgrade, with the support of China and Russia, did not recognize the sovereignty of Kosovo.
However, many, but not all, Western countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state, with a majority Albanian population of 1.8 million.
While Russia currently leads a war in Ukraine, The improvement of bilateral relations between Serbia and Kosovo has become essential to maintaining peace in the Balkan region.
Last month, Belgrade and Pristina failed to reach an agreement in Brussels when the European bloc revealed the peace plan.
According to the agreement, Serbia is not required to identify Kosovo as an independent nation but will have to recognize official documents such as passports, license plates and diplomas.
Borrell urged Kurti and Vucic to normalize links between the two countries. He wrote in a blog post that he sees the move as “an important step” towards their goal of joining the EU in the future.
aa/sms (AFP, Reuters, AP)