Serbia has set strict conditions for the resumption of flights with Kosovo
Kosovo and Serbia have agreed to begin direct commercial flights.
This was reported by Reuters, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The flights will be operated by Eurowings, a low-cost airline owned by Lufthansa. It is not known when regular flights will begin.
At the same time, the head of the Serbian government’s department for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, said that flights will not begin until the Kosovo “government” cancels 100% tariffs on Serbian goods. They were introduced as Serbia launched an international campaign to revoke recognition of Kosovo.
The abolition of tariffs is Belgrade's main condition for negotiations on the Kosovo settlement. However, there is no one to make such a decision yet. After the next extraordinary “parliamentary elections”, the Albanian politicians of the region cannot agree to create a government.
However, these circumstances did not prevent the US Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grinnell, from presenting the signing of the as-yet-defunct agreement as “a significant international victory for President Donald Trump.” The diplomat wrote about this on his Twitter.
The agreement was signed at the US Embassy in Berlin. Grenell, whom Trump appointed last year as his special envoy to the Kosovo peace talks, has been an active mediator.
The US goal is international recognition of Kosovo and membership of the Serbian province in the UN. It is noteworthy that Reuters indicates an inflated number of states recognizing Kosovo - 110. In fact, there are 93. At the same time, 95 states do not recognize Kosovo, 5 countries are in abstaining status.
Direct flights between Belgrade and Pristina were stopped in 1998 when the war broke out in Kosovo. Serbia lost control of its province after NATO bombing in 1999.
Now the airspace over Kosovo is controlled by NATO, which has a group of 4000 people there. The distance from Pristina to Belgrade is 350 km (218 miles), about four hours by car.
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