Page 15 - SE Outlook Regions 2024

provocative actions that may lead to tensions and violence, stressing the need to halt divisive rhetoric. The Council welcomed Serbia's steps, including encouraging Kosovo Serbs to participate in local elections and return to institutions they left.
As part of the ongoing efforts to normalise relations with Serbia, Kosovo's authorities must arrange new elections in four municipalities in northern Kosovo.
Despite the EU's urging for Serbia to de facto recognise Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has consistently affirmed that Serbia will neither recognise Kosovo nor permit its accession to the UN.
Following the EU-Western Balkans summit in December, Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has placed a reservation in Brussels on the EU declaration.
The submitted document highlights Serbia's unmistakable red lines, chiefly its steadfast refusal to acknowledge Kosovo as an independent entity. Furthermore, Serbia rejects the prospect of Kosovo becoming a UN member and any engagement in the UN's system of organisations and agencies.
Brnabic, in the text stating reservations regarding the declaration, said that "the agreement on the path to normalisation and its annex on implementation", as stated in the EU declaration, is considered acceptable only in a context that does not refer to any what kind of “de facto or de jure recognition of the so-called Kosovo”.
Kosovo maintains that the normalisation of relations can only occur if Belgrade recognises Kosovo.
On a positive note, Serbia made a decision at the end of December that permits drivers with Kosovo licence plates to enter Serbian territory starting from January 1. This move appears to resolve a longstanding dispute that has, at times, escalated into violence.
Previously, vehicles from either Kosovo or Serbia could cross the border only if they affixed stickers on their plates to conceal the respective symbols. However, Serbian authorities emphasised that allowing vehicles with Republic of Kosovo plates to enter Serbia does not imply recognition of Kosovo's statehood.
Despite the opposition's demands for early elections in response to the government's handling of the crisis in northern Kosovo and Western pressure for improved relations with Serbia, the Kurti administration remains stable, holding 58 seats in the 120-seat Parliament with fragmented opposition. The next scheduled regular election is set for 2025.
15 SE Outlook 2024 www.intellinews.com