On his two-day visit to Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic denied the two countries were near a solution to their dispute, and was prevented from visiting a Serb-majority village.
After Kosovo war veterans blocked roads leading to the village of Banje, south of the Ibar River, the Kosovo government cancelled Vucic’s visit to the village, but caused no problems about him holding the rally in North Mitrovica.
Vucic underlined that his idea was to keep the peace and try to “build bridges toward Albanians”. He added that Serbs should “strive for an agreement [with Kosovo Albanians], even when we know it is almost impossible, because everything else leads us into an abyss and a catastrophe”.
Vucic’s visit to Kosovo followed Friday’s EU-facilitated meetings in Brussels, where Vucic decided not to meet his Kosovo counterpart, Hashim Thaci.
The former province declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia has never recognised it.
However, international pressure is growing on both countries to solve the decade-long dispute, if they are to assure themselves EU membership.
Vucic started his Kosovo trip by visiting Gazivode Lake on Saturday, where he stated that it is time for Serbs and Albanians to try to talk with more respect to each other.
Vucic on Sunday planned a visit to the village of Banje, south of the Ibar River, but 200 Kosovo war veterans who opposed the visit to the majority-Serb village put up barricades at the entrance of the village.
For more read the full of article at The Balkaninsight
