EU, US want faster progress in Serbia-Kosovo talks

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Envoys from the European Union and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to make concrete progress in EU-brokered negotiations aimed at resolving a long-running dispute. Miroslav Lajcak, EU’s special envoy for the talks, and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar have ended a three-day visit to Pristina, Kosovo where they met with local leaders. They said that the international community expected faster progress in the dialogue in 2022. Lajcak said that normalizing ties between Kosovo and Serbia would contribute to the stability in the region. Pristina declared independence in 2008 following a bloody conflict with Serbia, but Belgrade has refused to accept its independence.