Serbia to normalise ties with Kosovo

(Vatican Radio) Serbia's government has approved a landmark agreement to normalize relations with neighboring Kosovo, prompting the European Commission to recommended opening European Union membership talks with the Balkan nation.

However the influential Serbian Orthodox Church denounced the potentially historic deal with breakaway Kosovo as a "clear surrender" of what it called Serbia's "most important territory."


Regional correspondant Stefan Bos reports:

The statement from the Serbian Orthodox Church came shortly after Belgrade announced it had approved the accord "unanimously" at an extraordinary session and ordered ministries to implement it.


Serbia's parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic says legislators will discuss the draft agreement Friday. "The parlament will gather April 26 to discuss it," he said, adding that he "expects the Serbian government to deliver its report on the negotiations in Brussels on Tuesday."

Prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo had already reached a tentative EU-mediated deal in Brussels last week. Under the agreement, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership will get authority over rebel Kosovo Serbs. In return, Serbs in northern Kosovo get wide-ranging autonomy such as an own police commander and appeals court.

The court will be based in northern Mitrovica, an ethnically divided Kosovo town with a Serb majority and ethnic Albanians in the south.

Police in Serb-majority municipalities will be ethnic Serbs, but the force will remain part of the Kosovo Police force.


In response the EU's executive Commission recommended opening membership talks with Serbia while also making a key step towards full EU accession negotiations with Kosovo. Both Balkan states agreed not to block each other's efforts to seek membership of the European Union, but Serbia is not required to recognize Kosovo's independence.


Yet, the Serbian Orthodox Church urged Serbian legislators to reject the deal saying it amounts to "indirect and silent, but still de-facto recognition" of the Kosovo state.

That view was shared Monday by thousands of flag-waving protesters in Mitrovica, who called Serbian officials endorsing the deal "traitors."

There has also been concerns about attacks against Serbian Orthodox Churches and other religious sites amid ethnic tensions in the region.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008 with the backing of the West. Its statehood came nearly a decade after the NATO military alliance forced Serbian forces to end a crackdown on independence seeking ethnic Albanians.