Serbia, Kosovo to resume EU-mediated talks next week

(BRUSSELS) - Serb and Kosovan negotiators will return to Brussels next week for a new round of EU-mediated talks aimed at normalising ties, an European Union spokeswoman said Thursday.

Tuesday's talks, which are key to Serbia's hopes of joining the EU, will come days after Serbs in northern Kosovo rejected ethnic Albanian rule in a controversial referendum criticised by the European Union.

"The referendum is not the solution. We must find a solution through dialogue," Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, told a news briefing.

The results of the vote on Wednesday showed almost 100-percent rejection of the authority of the Kosovo government, but it has no legal weight and has been dismissed by both Belgrade and Pristina as well as the international community.

The negotiators will discuss regional cooperation and the implementation of prior agreements between the two sides.

Belgrade and Serbs in northern Kosovo have never accepted Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, which is recognised by dozens of countries including the United States and most of Europe.