Tonight, in Belgrade, fifteen minutes after midnight, local time, the meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and the EU-US delegation, composed of the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues Miroslav Lajcak, Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill, and the EU Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret ended. 

According to the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues Miroslav Lajcak the talks with President Vucic were “difficult but responsible.”

Serbia-Kosovo Talks—Lajcak: Had a difficult but responsible discussion with President Vucic. I conveyed the messages and stressed that all Dialogue agreements must be implemented, including the 2011 Agreement on Freedom of Movement. We will continue our talks later tonight. (Source: Twitter/@MirsolavLajcak)
Serbia-Kosovo Talks—Lajcak: Had a difficult but responsible discussion with President Vucic. I conveyed the messages and stressed that all Dialogue agreements must be implemented, including the 2011 Agreement on Freedom of Movement. We will continue our talks later tonight. (Source: Twitter/@MirsolavLajcak)

As the EU-US delegation left, the Serbian President made a video statement saying that he will continue to look for a solution in the ongoing Serbia-Kosovo talks but shared his concern that it’s clear to him that without PM Kurti’s cooperation it won’t be possible to reach a mutually acceptable solution on questions regarding  Serbian license plates and IDs in Kosovo

Serbia-Kosovo Talks— Serbian President Vucic: In an open conversation with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, I expressed Serbia’s commitment to upholding peace, stability, and regional progress as a serious, dependable, and responsible party in the dialogue. (Source: Twitter/@predsednikrs)
Serbia-Kosovo Talks— Serbian President Vucic: In an open conversation with the US Deputy Assistant Secretary Gabriel Escobar, I expressed Serbia’s commitment to upholding peace, stability, and regional progress as a serious, dependable, and responsible party in the dialogue. (Source: Twitter/@predsednikrs)

Kosovo’s PM Albin Kurti is planning on making Serbian license plates and IDs no longer valid in Kosovo, a decision which was originally planned to be instituted on August 1, 2022, but has been postponed until September 1.

Speaking to The Pavlovic Today amid the developments Thursday in Serbia-Kosovo talks, former Special Presidential Envoy for Serbia and Kosovo Richard Grenell made an offer to President Biden to step in and assist the US in brokering a “mutually accepted” solution. 

“If the Europeans can’t come up with an agreement to solve the current tensions in the Balkans, then the Biden White House is going to have to get off the sidelines and forge a mutually accepted solution. If Joe Biden doesn’t know how to do it then I am happy to jump in and assist him,” Grenell told The Pavlovic Today.

Ksenija Pavlovic is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Pavlovic Today, The Chief White House Correspondent. Pavlovic was a Teaching Fellow and Doctoral Fellow in the Political Science department at...

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