TIRANA, October 6 – Expressing the EU’s deep concerns following the recent shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring between Kosovo and Serbia and in the region, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has said that she is negotiating with all parties involved in the de-escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo.
Baerbock was in Tirana on Friday at the foreign ministers’ meeting ahead of the October 16 summit on the Berlin Process, an initiative from Germany and France to encourage six Western Balkan countries to keep working towards membership in the bloc.
The top diplomats of the six countries – Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – met with Baerbock, EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi and other senior EU officials.
Baerbock said “we have seen in the past that when dialogue is the first priority and not escalation, then we achieve good steps forward, as was the case with the mobility agreements.”
According to her, “tensions within the last days between Serbia and Kosovo are also endangering this Berlin Process… The key to resolving the conflict is in Belgrade and Pristina, although some may not be pleased to listen to that.”
Baerbock said that NATO has decided to increase and intensify its commitment within the framework of KFOR troops and next year Germany will also register more troops in the context of KFOR troops.
“We want to find a three-dimensional cooperation with the Kosovar side that has a significant responsibility in this regard, then also in terms of EULEX and KFOR. I think that NATO’s decision is quite important as an integral and integrated part in terms of the security of the work of the Police in Kosovo, and KFOR continuously complements these efforts,” said German FM. /argumentum.al
