NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska has stressed the importance of continued cooperation between NATO and the EU to maintain stability and security in the Western Balkans region.
She made this statement in a post on X, following a meeting with Peter Sorensen, the European Union's special representative for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
Sorensen responded to Shekerinska's statement by saying that he "looks forward to working closely together."
NATO's mission in Kosovo, KFOR, continues to play a key role in maintaining peace and security, while the EU is engaged in facilitating political dialogue between the parties.
In the first years after the war, KFOR had 50,000 troops, but, after continuous security assessments, this number has today decreased to around 4,600 soldiers.
The presence of troops in Kosovo has increased whenever the situation has been tense, such as after the armed attack in Banjska in September 2023.
Currently, 29 NATO member states are part of the KFOR mission.
In mid-March, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Pristina, where he said that dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia is the only way to resolve open issues.
According to him, the normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia would improve stability and security throughout the region.
About a week later, the new EU envoy for the dialogue, Peter Sorensen, visited Pristina. He also visited Belgrade, and in both places he stressed that his priority was to secure a meeting between representatives of Kosovo and Serbia.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated in February that she has taken into account criticism of the current format of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and that she, together with Sorensen, will examine options to make it functional.
There have been no high-level talks between Kosovo and Serbia since September 2023.
On the 14th of that month, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, met in Brussels, with the mediation of the then European leaders, Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajčák.
Ten days after that meeting, an armed attack took place in Banjska, where armed groups of Serbs killed a Kosovo policeman.
In recent years, the Kosovo Government, led by Albin Kurti, has faced repeated criticism from EU and American officials due to several actions in the north of the country, which they have described as uncoordinated and with a negative impact on the Serbian community./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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