March 20 (SeeNews) - Serbia and Kosovo have committed to implement an EU-proposed deal for normalisation of relations, EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said following a meeting of Serbia's president Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo's prime minister Albin Kurti.
"We have a deal. Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on the implementation annex of the agreement on the path to normalisation of relations. The parties have fully committed to honour all articles of the agreement and implement their respective obligations expediently and in good faith," Borell said in a Twitter post on Saturday after the meeting.
"We have now reached an agreement on an implementation annex to the basic agreement. Serbia—just as in the last meeting in Brussels—avoided signing the agreement, and now also the annex. It's up to the EU to find a mechanism to make the agreement legally & internationally binding," Kurti said in a Twitter post on Saturday after the meeting.
In a separate statement, Serbia's government confirmed that an agreement has been reached but Vucic did not sign the annex because Kosovo is not an internationally recognised country.
Pristina has pledged to work on the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, Vucic added. The implementation annex also foresees setting up a joint committee which will follow the implementation process.
EU will also put together an investment and financial package for the two countries, which will be disbursed once the agreement has been fully implemented, according to the press release by Serbia's government.
In December, ethnic Serbs in Kosovo blocked the roads to the border with Serbia with demands for the establishment of a Community of Serb Municipalities, as agreed by the governments of Kosovo and Serbia in 2013. Tensions eased after the release of a former policeman whose arrest had sparked the protests.
The government in Belgrade does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, which broke away from Serbia in 2008.
In December, Kosovo submitted its application to join the European Union. It is also aspiring to join NATO.