Serbia, Kosovo PMs meet for first round of talks

(BRUSSELS) - The prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, met Friday for the first time in EU-brokered talks aimed at easing tension in the western Balkans, the European Union said.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the encounter took place "in a good and constructive atmosphere" following separate meetings with her in Brussels.

"We agreed to continue the dialogue for the normalisation of relations between the two sides and both committed to working together," a statement from Ashton said. "We will meet again soon."

The face-to-face took place as the 27-state bloc sought to give fresh impetus to months of efforts to end day-to-day problems caused by Serbia's refusal to recognise Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008.

"I firmly believe that the dialogue is in the interest of both sides," Ashton said.

"Its objective is to improve the lives of people and help solve problems and, in so doing, bring Serbia and Kosovo closer to the European Union."

EU-facilitated talks to ease strain in the western Balkans began in March 2011 but at a lower level. Friday's talks were the first chaired by Ashton.

The talks so far have yielded several agreements aimed at ending daily headaches for citizens on both sides, such as the mutual recognition of university degrees or returning property records.

The talks were halted after Serbia held elections in May and Brussels has been stepping up the pressure for them to be resumed.

Serbia is an EU candidate member and Kosovo hopes to formalise ties, but the bloc has made clear to both that they must re-enter the talks and show concrete results.

"Regarding the relations with Kosovo, Serbia is now expected to implement all agreements to date and re-engage constructively on all issues with EU facilitation," the EU's enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said earlier this month.

Kosovo is recognised by some 90 states including 22 of the EU's 27 members and the United States.

A key obstacle to pursuing the talks was lifted last month when Belgrade complied with a deal to allow Kosovo "to participate and sign new agreements on its own account and to speak for itself at all regional meetings".

Under that deal, an asterisk was to be added to Kosovo's name, with a footnote reading: "This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UN Security Council resolution 1244 and the International Court of Justice's opinion" on Kosovo 2008 declaration of independence.

But Belgrade initially insisted the full text of the footnote be displayed on Kosovo's name plate, while Pristina wanted it to read just Kosovo*.