The European Union expressed "concern" over unfulfilled pledges from earlier this year by both sides in talks to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and urged them to "engage constructively and in good faith," while a special counselor to the U.S. State Department reiterated to Kosovo's president the need for de-escalation in the Balkan hot spot.
In a statement on September 19, the EU diplomatic service complained about a "lack of progress from both parties in de-escalating the tensions in the north of Kosovo" months after unrest injured NATO KFOR peacekeepers and civilians.
It called out Pristina for expropriations, evictions, and using special forces for routine policing, while it blamed Belgrade for "blocking the energy roadmap" and other actions.
The EU demanded that the work to establish an association of Serb-majority municipalities -- as Pristina pledged to do a decade ago -- "needs to start without any further delay or precondition."
State Department counselor Derek Chollet, meanwhile, met in New York with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani, who is there to attend the 78th UN General Assembly, to stress the "need to de-escalate the situation" in northern Kosovo, where a local Serb majority with support from Belgrade has for years bucked Pristina's authority.
Serbia doesn't recognize its former province's 2008 declaration of sovereignty, which is acknowledged by more than 100 states but not Russia, China, or a handful of EU member states.
Chollet said in an early morning post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he'd had a "good discussion" with Osmani.
He said they discussed a "shared commitment to Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic future, the need to de-escalate tensions, and engage urgently in the EU-Facilitated Dialogue to normalize relations with Serbia -- the key to regional stability and EU integration."
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell signaled frustration at Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti after talks in Brussels on September 14 that also involved Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
Those negotiations are part of a decade-long U.S. and EU diplomatic push toward normalization and to repair some of the wounds from bloody internecine wars in the 1990s following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Western patience with Kurti appeared to wear thin in May and June after Pristina ignored outside warnings and tried to forcibly install four mayors in mostly Serb northern municipalities following boycotted by-elections to fill posts vacated by protesting Serbs.
The resulting tensions erupted into violence that injured dozens of NATO KFOR peacekeepers and some ethnic Serb protesters.