At the weekend, Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, spoke despairingly in relation to a decade of talks about normalising relations with Serbia, which continues to refuse to recognise his country’s independent status. In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Kurti claimed that the negotiations, mediated by the European Union, were in danger of reaching a dead end. Shortly after publication, there was ominous confirmation that a nadir has indeed been reached. In a serious escalation of tensions, five people, including a Kosovan police officer, were killed after an ambush by unidentified armed men near the Serbian border.
For the EU and its foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, the ramifications of diplomatic failure stretch well beyond the fate of the northern tip of Kosovo, with its majority Serb population. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU has redoubled its efforts to anchor the western Balkans within its orbit and combat Moscow’s influence. But Sunday’s shootings indicate that in this Balkan hotspot, its approach isn’t working.
