Serbia Wants Normalization with Kosovo Without Signing Any Agreement

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated on Sunday that Serbia wants to normalize relations with Kosovo without signing any agreement with it, a day after he verbally agreed to a Western-backed plan for normalizing relations. Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti agreed to implement normalization steps in a meeting with European Union officials held on Saturday, but they did not sign any document. The European Union has expressed a desire to go further than that. Vučić told reporters on Sunday, "Serbia wants to normalize relations with Kosovo. We want to travel and do business. One cannot live in isolation." He added, "I did not want to sign an agreement regarding the implementation annex last night nor sign an EU-backed agreement (in Brussels last month). I do not want to sign any binding international documents with Kosovo because Serbia does not recognize its independence."