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Southeast Europe
August 25, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Serbia and Macedonia agree to mend ties after embassy staff pullout
bne IntelliNews
Macedonia and Serbia agreed on August 23 to mend their strained relations, days after Belgrade recalled its embassy staff from Skopje in protest at what it said were “offensive actions” against Serbian institutions.
On the night on August 20 Serbia abruptly recalled the entire staff of its embassy in the Macedonian capital for urgent consultations in Belgrade, in
a move taken after intelligence information that Macedonia planned to vote for Kosovo to gain full membership in the UN cultural agency Unesco. Kosovo is frequently a source of friction between Serbia and Macedonia, where nearly one quarter of the population are ethnic Albanians.
Following a long phone conversation between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the two leaders said in a joint statement that they agreed to settle all misunderstandings in their relations solely through dialogue.
“Regardless of the different political attitudes concerning certain important political and regional issues, Macedonia and Serbia will together strive not only to overcome, but also to improve the friendly relations,” the Macedonian government said in a joint statement.
Vucic and Zaev also agreed to improve economic relations and to increase the trade exchange
between the two countries as well as to cooperate on their road towards the EU membership.
Zaev told Serbian daily Blic that Macedonian authorities did not act in any way against Serbian interests.
On August 21, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said in a government statement that a "foreign element" was involved in the dispute, but he did not elaborate.
However, it was announced that part of the staff should be returned to Skopje as early as this week.
The Serbian ambassador will be back later when all consultations are completed.
Good neighbourly relations are one of the key demands for the six Western Balkan states, including Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo, to make progress towards full EU membership.
Serbia is vigorously opposing Kosovo’s bid to join Unesco, claiming that it would be an open threat to Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo if Pristina became part of Unesco. Russia has also campaigned against Kosovo's membership.
In November 2015, Kosovo narrowly failed to become a full member of Unesco.