Belgrade and Pristina resumed negotiations in Brussels on Wednesday despite escalating tensions in north Kosovo, which could cost Serbia the status of European Union accession candidate, the AFP news agency said.
The chief negotiators, Edita Tahiri of Kosovo and Borislav Stefanovic of Serbia, will try to agree on the management of border crossings in north Kosovo, where local Serbs and NATO peacekeepers clashed violently on Monday.
One of the topics is expected to be Kosovo's attendance of regional forums, given that Serbia does not recognise the independence of its former province.
"We must focus on solving problems without pressure, independently of whether we will get candidate status," Stefanovic said ahead of the talks, although he added this status was important to Serbia.
Germany has made the granting of EU accession candidate status to Serbia conditional on its normalisation of relations with Kosovo, and demands the Serbian government use its influence to defuse tensions among Serbs in Kosovo.
The Serbian government wants to be granted EU membership candidate status, but at this moment, it is moving away from that more and more every day, German Defence Minister Thomas De Maziere said in Brussels today.
