Serbia accepts EU-brokered normalisation plan with Kosovo

The Serbian government on Sunday backed a plan for the implementation of an EU-brokered normalisation agreement with Kosovo.

“The government of Serbia today ... adopted the implementation plan for the agreement reached in Brussels,” it said after a Sunday evening meeting.

The plan, defined on Wednesday with EU mediation, lays out the actions and deadlines from the April 19 historic agreement between Serbia and its former province.

The agreement paves the way to both Serbia and Kosovo for closer ties with the European Union. Serbia is hoping to get the date for the start of membership talks at the EU summit in late June.

Kosovo, with a mostly Albanian population, declared independence in 2008, nine years after NATO intervened against Serbia to end a war there.

Despite refusing to recognize Kosovo’s independence, Serbia agreed to begin EU-brokered negotiations in 2011, with the aim of restoring normal life in the region.