Miroslav Lajcak, the European Union’s Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, said that there is a difficult situation in northern Kosovo at the moment, and that they are seeking a solution to the problem between Serbia and Kosovo.
This came in statements to reporters on Wednesday, after a meeting he held with the US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in the capital, Pristina.
Lajak pointed out that the European Union held a meeting at the level of foreign ministers of member states this week, to discuss ways to resolve the difficult situation in northern Kosovo.
He stated that he had discussed a series of issues at length with the Kosovar Prime Minister, and that he would move today to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, for talks with the relevant officials there.
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In turn, Escobar pointed out the need to focus on the course of dialogue supervised by the European Union, expressing his hope that progress will be made to resolve the crisis between the two countries in the near future.
In early August, tension arose between the two neighboring countries after the Pristina government tried to demand that Kosovo Serbs replace old license plates from neighboring Serbia with Kosovo plates.
The decision led to the withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from all central and local institutions, and in late November, an agreement was reached to end the conflict.
However, on the tenth of December, groups from the Serb minority in northern Kosovo began setting up roadblocks with trucks to protest against the arrest of a former security man of Serbian origin by the Pristina authorities, which escalated tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.
Kosovo, which has a majority Albanian population, separated from Serbia in 1999 and declared its independence from it in 2008, but Belgrade still considers it part of its territory and supports a Serb minority in it.