Kosovo, Serbia Reach Breakthrough Deal

The talks have brokered three agreements between Kosovo and Serbia, including, for the first time, Serbia’s acceptance of Kosovo ID cards.

Kosovo's chief negotiator Edita Tahiri has hailed Saturday’s agreement between Pristina and Belgrade as Serbia’s first step towards recognising the independece of its former province.

The EU-led negotiations, which started five months ago, scored a major breakthrough on Saturday when the two sides agreed to deals in the field of civil registry, freedom of movement and acceptance of mutual university degrees.

Following NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and Serbia’s pull out, civil registry books were removed to Belgrade.

The agreement means that the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, will act as an intermediary, providing Pristina authorities with certified copies of all original civil registry books.

On freedom of movement, Serbia has agreed to accept Kosovo ID cards and other car documents, such as insurance and number plates. To date, Kosovars who had not retained Serbian documents had been unable to cross the border.

University and school diplomas will be mutually recognised by an international body or mutually agreed academic institution. Non-recognition has been a major issue for ethnic-Albanians from the Presevo valley, in southern Serbia, who often study in Kosovo.

Tahiri said the first deals will be implemented on November 1. She told a press conference at Pristina Airport on her return from Brussels: “This is a first step towards Serbia's recognition of Kosovo independence.

“The agreement on free movement is an agreement where the government of Kosovo and I as the main representative in the talks have thus protected the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, Kosovo's sovereignty, and we have worked on agreements that are in harmony with the laws but also the resolution of the [Kosovo] assembly, "said Tahiri.

She added: “As far as civil registers agreement, it foresees the return of certified copies of civil records. This is a temporary solution.”

She said that Kosovo had accepted this “temporary solution” because a full civil registry list is a condition for visa liberalisation.

“Overall, I can say that it has not been easy for Kosovo to enter into dialogue with Serbia, because we know that Serbia has a negative history in Kosovo and has made this a difficult and sensitive operation.

“But we have taken this decision as a government because we have exercised sovereignty in foreign policy, have received international obligations under the UN resolution and have established much closer relationship with the EU, and we expect that the technical dialogue to produce concrete rapprochement with the EU.”

The two sides are expected to flesh out the agreement at the forthcoming, sixth meeting between the countries.

Robert Cooper, EU facilitator, added that further deals in the fields of  telecoms, cadastre records, customs stamps and energy are expected.

"They[the agreements] bring both parties closer to the European Union, they improve cooperation and they improve the lives of ordinary people," said Cooper.

"They do not prejudice the position of either side with respect to the status of Kosovo. Serbia is not recognising Kosovo, Kosovo is not giving up its status," he added.

Borislav Stefanovic, head of negotiations for Belgrade, told TV station B92 that there was no question of Kosovars travelling through Serbia with passports or licence plates issued by Pristina.

“A passport is the highest symbol of citizenship, while the identity card is not,” Stefanovic said.