Discussions between Senior Serbian and Kosovo leaders, regarding an European Union mediated plan for Serbian reconciliation with Kosovo, have experienced difficulties over the past few days.
The EU has given Serbia until Tuesday to decide whether it will relinquish its control over northern Kosovo in exchange of talks to negotiate the start of a Serbian role in the EU.
Talks between the Serbian and Kosovo leadership broke down after a disagreement over the plight of 200,000 ethnic Serbians that live in the northern part of the Kosovo state. Serbian officials have asked that the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo be provided with their own judiciary and policing system. Kosovo officials have rejected such requests, on the basis that such an action would equate to splitting Kosovo into two separate entities.
Though Kosovo has been recognised as a separate state by many nations, Serbia continues to refute the Kosovo statehood.
The Serbian involvement in current negotiations has sparked strong criticism amongst the Serbian Orthodox Church, with the Patriarch urging officials not to "give up" or "sell" Kosovo for a EU membership promise.
Serbian President, Tomislav Nikolic, told reporters that, the leadership will formally declare whether it accepts or rejects the EU proposal, noting that further negotiations would be sought to "correct" the EU proposal.
A rejection of the EU proposal could act as a damaging blow to Serbia's EU membership aspirations, as it continues to rejects the Kosovo's statehood.
