MITROVICA: Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic visited northern Kosovo Monday, becoming the first senior Serbian official to travel to the former breakaway province in years following recent tensions.
The visit comes just over a week after Serbia and Kosovo signed a landmark arrangement that will allow for the free movement of their citizens between the long-time rivals’ territories.
The deal followed weeks of negotiations in Brussels after northern Kosovo was rocked by unrest this summer with Serb protesters blocking border crossings and firing at police over a plan by Kosovo authorities to introduce a new set of travel documents for people entering the territory with Serbian IDs.
In the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, about a thousand local Serbs greeted Brnabic, waving Serbian flags and holding signs that read “We have only one prime minister” and “Welcome to Serbia, holy land of Kosovo.”
“I sincerely hope that the temporary institutions in Pristina become genuinely committed to dialogue and finding a certain compromise needed for long-term normalization of ties between Belgrade and Pristina,” said Brnabic during a press conference, referring to Kosovo authorities. “That is something we need – not just for our European integration – but for ourselves,” she added.
Serbia has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2012, however, most experts doubt the country stands a chance of entering the bloc until Belgrade hammers out a deal to normalize ties with Kosovo.
Brnabic’s delegation traveled with a heavy security detail, while NATO troops were stationed along the main roads in the area and a helicopter circled overhead. During her one-day Kosovo tour, the 46-year-old was set to visit educational facilities, a Serbian Orthodox monastery, and chat with local farmers.
The area has long been a flashpoint between the two communities following the bitter war in the 1990s that triggered a NATO bombing campaign paving the way for Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008. –Agencies
