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BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union warned Serbia and Kosovo on Monday that they could undermine their hopes of EU membership by moving their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, as US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement about the change left officials in Belgrade and Pristina struggling to limit the political fallout.
In an unexpected move last week, Trump said Serbia and Kosovo had agreed to normalize economic ties as part of US-brokered talks that include moving Belgrade to its embassy in Jerusalem and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo.
It surprised Europeans, who are leading complex talks between Serbia and its former Kosovo territory to improve their strained relations, while Serbian officials appeared to be diluting their commitment to Trump and Kosovo sought to allay concerns among Muslim countries.
The long-standing policy of the 27-nation EU is that the status of Jerusalem should be resolved between Israel and the Palestinians as part of broader peace negotiations, and that Serbia, as a candidate to join the bloc, should respect that.
“There is no EU member state with an embassy in Jerusalem,” said European Commission spokesman Peter Stano. “Any diplomatic measure that may cast doubt on the EU’s common position on Jerusalem is a cause for great concern and regret.”
Praising what he said was “a breakthrough” and “a truly historic commitment,” Trump, heavily campaigning ahead of the November presidential elections, announced on Friday that “Serbia and Kosovo have committed to economic normalization.” .
Trump also said that Serbia has committed to opening a trade office in Jerusalem this month and moving its embassy there in July. The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in late 2017 and moved the US embassy there in May 2018.
President Donald Trump participates in a signing ceremony with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, and Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, in the Oval Office last week.
Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the President of Serbia and confirmed that Israel and Kosovo, a predominantly Muslim country, will establish diplomatic relations. He said Pristina will also open its embassy in Jerusalem.
Stano, speaking as Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti were holding a new round of talks in Brussels on normalizing their relations, said the EU was informed in advance only about the economic aspects. about the White House event, not about the movements in Jerusalem.
In Belgrade, Serbian officials appeared to be backing away from the embassy’s commitment, and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said the final decision will still have to be discussed by the government and will depend on “a number of factors,” including the future development of ties with Israel.
Meanwhile, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was on the phone with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, trying to allay fears about the decision to recognize Israel expressed by Turkey and the Arab League group of countries.
“Such recognition will not under any circumstances violate the strategic, friendly and fraternal partnership with Turkey,” Thaci said after the conversation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the agreement establishing diplomatic relations with Kosovo, and that both Kosovo and Serbia would open embassies in Jerusalem. They would join the US and Guatemala as the only countries with embassies in the disputed city, whose eastern sector is claimed by the Palestinians as the capital of a future state.
“We will continue efforts for other European countries to transfer their embassies to Jerusalem,” Netanyahu said on Friday. He noted that Kosovo becomes the first Muslim-majority country to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, about a decade after Belgrade sent troops to its former territory to crush an uprising by ethnic Albanian separatists. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and tensions have since escalated.
Negotiations facilitated by the EU, which Europeans say is the only way to meet their hopes of membership, began in March 2011 and have produced more than a dozen agreements, but most of them have not been delivered.
The talks stalled in November 2018 and only resumed in July after a parallel US negotiating effort began.
But when they met again on Monday, Vucic and Hoti re-committed to the European track, saying they “give top priority to EU integration and to continue work on the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue.”
In what was described as a “joint statement” issued by the office of the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, Vucic and Hoti also said that they “pledged to redouble their efforts to ensure further EU alignment in accordance with their respective obligations “.
They seemed to downplay Friday’s announcement saying that “the documents recently agreed in Washington, DC, based on previous commitments related to the Dialogue made by the two parties, could provide a useful contribution to reaching a comprehensive and legally binding agreement on the normalization of relationships. “
