Video: Serbia And Kosovo Leaders Shake Hands
May 17, 2018
By JOSH FRIEDMAN
SOFIA, Bulgaria - While no great breakthroughs on longstanding ethnic and regional disputes were expected to occur at the European Union Western Balkans summit this week in Sofia, one oft-asked question remained a mystery until the very end: Would the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo shake hands?
As seen in the video above, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci did shake hands. The handshake occurred following the signing of an EU-Western Balkans digitalization agreement. Thaci joined fellow Western Balkan leaders Vucic, Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic and Chairman of the Bosnian Presidency Bakir Izetbegovic on stage along with EU leaders to sign the document.
Relations between Serbia and its former province Kosovo have been hostile as recently as March of this year. Thaci, a former Kosovo Liberation Army leader, has also been the subject of recent speculation about potential war crimes indictments. Meanwhile, Vucic is facing considerable domestic pressure over Serbia's potential recognition of Kosovo's independence. Handshakes between leaders of Serbia and Kosovo have previously caused controversy.
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Entering the summit, Serbia-Kosovo relations and the longstanding Macedonian name dispute between Greece and Macedonia were seen as the two key disputes hindering the process of Western Balkan integration into the EU. Neither dispute was resolved during the summit. However, Greek and Macedonian prime ministers Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev met Thursday and informed the public that the two sides are close to coming to a resolution to the name dispute.
The issue of "normalizing" relations between Serbia and Kosovo is expected to take longer to resolve than the Macedonian name issue. But Serbia is ahead of Macedonia in the cue to join the EU.
EU leaders have set a target date of 2025 for both Serbia and Montenegro to join the union. But prior to joining the EU, Serbia must normalize its relations with Serbia, a condition that some say means outright recognition of Kosovo's independence.
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Curated for #informationwar (by @wakeupnd)
Relevance: Countering the MSM.
@freemanreporter, I don't believe that Thaci deserves any courtesy and certainly would not call Nikolic a savage if he didn't shake his hand. Who cares what Albanians say anyway.
Now I am more than willing to call Nikolic a liar because he said he would never do that and here is is breaking his word. Thank again for your thoughtful and wonderful post.
You're welcome for the post. Frankly, I don't know what to make of your comment.