EU and US envoys urge Kosovo and Serbia to resume dialogue in order to defuse tensions

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The envoys of the European Union and the United States are urging Kosovo and Serbia to resume their dialogue on normalizing relations before the bitter tensions between the two sides trigger more violence. EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak and U.S. Special Representative to the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar met with Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, before traveling to Serbia for a meeting with President Aleksandar Vucic. They’re accompanied by top diplomats from Germany, France and Italy, reflecting Western concerns over the crisis. It’s the first such engagement since about 30 Serb gunmen entered northern Kosovo on Sept. 24, killed a police officer and stormed a monastery before launching an hours-long gunbattle with police. Three gunmen were killed.