Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says ICC’s order against Putin will complicate negotiations with Kosovo

Archive – Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – Europa Press/Contacto/Shi Zhongyu

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic warned late Friday that the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Russian President Vladimir Putin will hinder high-level talks scheduled for Saturday in Ohrid (North Macedonia) to normalize relations with Kosovo.

”Serbia’s position in Ohrid will be more difficult tomorrow, because we will have to think about every tiny step we are going to take in the future,” Vucic, who is very close to the Russian president and a critic of sanctions against Moscow over the Ukrainian war, said during a rally in Srem. ”It seems absolutely clear to me that the world is descending down a spiral of acceleration of the conflict in Ukraine,” the Serbian president added in comments picked up by Tanjug.

The meeting, starring Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, will focus on the finalization of the Annex on the implementation of the EU Agreement on the path to normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, all under the auspices of Brussels, represented mainly by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell.

Belgrade and Pristina have been negotiating for decades in Brussels with poor results and a poor record of implementation of the agreements already reached. European sources acknowledged last month to Europa Press that the agreement to implement the community of Serb-majority municipalities, a special political status for northern Kosovo, is ”difficult” but stress that it is a long-term commitment that needs to be fulfilled.

However, and in spite of the good expectations placed by the European Union and the US State Department, the Serbian president, who is already in the Macedonian city, has anticipated that in principle there will be no relevant progress during the meeting. I have no intention of signing anything”, he said.

The ICC issued the arrest warrant against Putin on Friday under the presumption of war crime for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children from captured areas during the Ukrainian war to Russian territory. Russia has completely ignored the decision, as it does not recognize the court as a competent judicial body over its affairs since it withdrew in 2016 from the Rome Statute.

Source: (EUROPA PRESS)