Serbia, Kosovo representation row flares despite deal

(BELGRADE) - A spat between Belgrade and Pristina about the way Kosovo is represented in regional meetings flared again Thursday despite an EU-brokered deal on the issue hammered out last month.

A Kosovo delegation quit a regional meeting on non-governmental organisations held in Belgrade, while Serbian representatives left a separate regional meeting in Sarajevo.

Both delegations claimed that the way Pristina was represented was not in line with the agreement reached in Brussels in February, a pact that paved the way for Belgrade to be granted EU candidate status.

"Serbia's delegation quit a meeting of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) to express its disagreement with the way the agreement was implemented," RCC spokeswoman Dinka Zivalj told AFP in Sarajevo.

In Belgrade, a Kosovo delegation quit a regional conference on civil society and government, with the Pristina government expressing "deep disappointment as Serbia did not fulfil the agreement on regional cooperation".

Under the EU-brokered deal, Serbia agreed to let Pristina into meetings under the title "Kosovo*" -- the asterisk referring to a footnote outlining distinct international rulings on its disputed status.

But Belgrade's Blic daily said that while Serbia insists the full text of the footnote must be written on Kosovo's representation plate, Pristina apparently wants it to read just Kosovo*.

Serbia does not recognise Kosovo's 2008 unilateral proclamation of independence, which is backed by some 90 nations including the US and most EU members, and has blocked Pristina's participation at regional meetings.

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