Mogherini: Kosovo, Serbia to ‘leave the tensions behind’

Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi said he was satisfied with outcome of talks in Brussels, but Serbia’s Aleksandar Vučić was less enthused.

After talks with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini Tuesday evening, former wartime foes Kosovo and Serbia agreed to defuse tensions that had recently spiked to alarming levels.

Mogherini called the leaders of both states to Brussels after a series of dramatic incidents, including Belgrade’s attempt to send a train into Kosovo emblazoned in Serbian national colors and carrying the slogan “Kosovo is Serbia.”

“They discussed the developments over the past days, agreed to leave the tensions behind and to focus on the work ahead,” Mogherini said in a statement released after the talks.

The meeting took place as part of an EU-sponsored dialogue meant to normalize relations between Belgrade and Pristina, which were on opposite sides of the last of the wars that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s.

“Discussions between the sides will intensify over the next days. We decided to have a series of rounds of the high level dialogue,” Mogherini said.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi declared he was satisfied with the talks.

“We are very pleased that this meeting has taken place tonight because we have answered the calls for war from Serbia with calls for peace. We have answered them also with calls for integration into the European Union and NATO. There is no alternative to the dialogue,” he told reporters.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić seemed in more somber mood, giving only a brief statement and taking no questions. He said the meeting had been extremely difficult but the dialogue had to continue.