AbroadYesterday, 19:43 “Vucic, resign!” Serbian nationalists protest the West’s plan to normalize relations with Kosovo

“No to surrender!” on the banners of the protesters. was writing. and “Vucic, back off!”.

Similar protests took place in other Serbian cities.

Supporters of right-wing opposition parties are dissatisfied with the European Union’s (EU) 11-point plan to normalize relations with Kosovo. The US also supports the plan.

On March 18, Serbian President and Kosovo Prime Minister Albina Kurti met with European Union officials in Ohrid, North Macedonia to discuss the plan proposed by the EU and the possibilities for implementing it. The agreement was not signed, but Giuseppe Borrell, the EU’s foreign chief, announced that progress had been made and that the agreement was considered de facto accepted. However, Vucic announced on television the very next day that he would not sign any deals.

Serbia lost de facto control of Albanian-dominated Kosovo in 1999 following NATO’s military intervention in the Kosovo conflict, but in 2008 Pristina unilaterally declared independence from Serbia. However, Belgrade still sees the old province as part of its territory.

For the past ten years, Belgrade and Pristina have been negotiating through the EU to normalize relations necessary for the two countries to join the bloc. Recently, Brussels and Washington have stepped up efforts to resolve these differences, fretting about possible Russian intervention to escalate the situation and divert the world’s attention from the war in Ukraine.

The EU’s 11-point plan calls on Serbia and Kosovo to normalize relations without official recognition of Kosovo; While Serbia promises to no longer block Kosovo’s membership in international organisations, Kosovo provides self-government to the Serb minority.

However, Serbian nationalists believe such an agreement would mean de facto recognition of Kosovo and demanded that the government reject it.