Serbia and its former southern province of Kosovo took steps toward overcoming decades of animosity on Tuesday, signing energy and telecoms agreements and bringing Belgrade closer to one day joining the European Union.
After European Union-mediated talks in Brussels, Serbs in northern Kosovo will enjoy greater rights and be able to manage some issues such as the local economy and education, as well as having access to funding from Belgrade.
"Today's outcome represents landmark achievements in the normalisation process," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement, referring to the two sides that fought a war in the 1990s and which both aspire to EU membership.
Kosovo will, for example, have its own telephone country code, essentially a recognition by Serbia of the sovereignty of majority-Albanian Kosovo, which has declared independence.
Serbia’s hopes of opening the first chapter in EU accession talks hinge on implementation of an EU-brokered deal in 2013 to regulate relations with Kosovo.
Kosovo seceded from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after Nato intervened with air strikes to drive out Serbian forces from Kosovo and halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanian civilians during a two-year counter-insurgency war.
"There are no more obstacles for starting accession talks" with the EU, Serbian premier Aleksandar Vucic said. "Our European path is open."
Serbia seeks to follow fellow former Yugoslav republics Slovenia and Croatia into the world's biggest trading bloc and hopes to gain entry by the end of the decade.
"In a way, this is recognition of Kosovo independence" by Serbia, broadcaster B92 reported, citing Kosovo's foreign minister Hashim Thaci. "Serbia signed the documents under pressure from the international community."
“Today’s outcome represents landmark achievements in the normalisation process” between former foes “and at the same time enable the two sides to advance on their European path,” Mogherini said in a statement on EU’s website. “The EU will actively support the full implementation of this outcome.”
Negotiators failed to agree on power distribution in Kosovo, amid conflicting claims about grid ownership, Vucic said. The document on energy was signed with “disclaimers” by both sides, leaving the issue yet to be resolved, he said.