Kosovo ‘election winner’ hints tough Serbia stance

Bloomberg

The winner of Kosovo’s snap election struck a defiant tone towards Serbia, foreshadowing more of the acrimony that has kept the two neighbours from clearing a key hurdle on their path to membership in the European Union.
Albin Kurti, whose Self-Determination Movement won, said that in talks with Belgrade his new government would focus on a historic “debt that Serbia owes to Kosovo.”
Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said he expects negotiations to be “most complex.” Still, both sides indicated a willingness to return to the negotiating table.
Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after a war that ended with NATO forcing a withdrawal of Serb troops from the land dominated by pro-independence ethnic Albanians.
While Serbia refuses to recognise the country, the EU has sponsored talks to help the neighbours improve ties.
Serbia’s stance is supported by Russia and China and Kosovo’s independence has been recognised by more than 100 other countries, including the US and all but five EU states.
The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo last year floated the idea of a land swap to move the talks along, which was rejected by nationalists in both countries, including Kurti.
EU leaders also warned against any new change of Balkan borders as it could fuel tensions still lingering from Yugoslavia’s bloody breakup.