TIRANA: European leaders urged dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia after a recent spike in tensions, as a regional Balkan summit opened on Monday in the Albanian capital Tirana.

Following the killing of a Kosovo police officer and three Serb gunmen in clashes in Kosovo’s volatile north, simmering friction escalated to the highest level in years.

“It is time to overcome conflicts that have continued for far too long,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the summit. “The recent escalation of the situation in north Kosovo has proven just how important that is”.

On the eve of the event, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged Belgrade and Pristina to return to a Brussels-sponsored dialogue on normalisation of ties.

“This is the way towards a future where Kosovo and Serbia will be part of the European Union,” she said in Tirana on Sunday. But Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will not attend this year’s edition of the annual summit. He travelled instead to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum, where he is due to sign a free trade agreement with China.

Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, however is present in Tirana. On the agenda at the meeting are discussions around a greater convergence with the European Union and “supporting ecological and digital transition” in the region.

During the one-day meeting, leaders are also expected to ratify an agreement on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and announce the opening of a College of Europe campus in Tirana.

Monday’s meeting is the 9th summit of the Berlin Process, launched in 2014 by then-German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2023