Serbia Skips Croatia Summit over Kosovo

Serbia missed last year’s summit for the same reason.

The Sixth Croatia Summit, which is hosting European prime ministers and top EU officials, got underway in Dubrovnik on Friday. Bosnia and Herzegovina has also refused to participate. 

Belgrade decided not to send representatives to Dubrovnik when it learned that Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci would be at the summit.

Since Kosovo declared its independence, Serbia has followed a policy of not participating in international events where Kosovo officials are present as representatives of a sovereign country.

The summit is being held just one week after Croatia completed its accession negotiations with the EU. The main topics on this year’s agenda are regional development and EU enlargement.

Along with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, prime ministers from Montenegro, Slovenia and Macedonia will attend the meeting, dubbed “A New Decade for South East Europe – Finalising the Transition.”

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule will also attend the conference.

Serbia’s posture toward Kosovo has kept it from several major conferences. In May this year, Serbian president Boris Tadic passed up a rare chance for a one-on-one meeting with US President Barack Obama at a regional conference in Warsaw.