Kosovo’s First Envoy to Serbia Resigns After Two Days
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Version 0 of 1. Independent Kosovo’s first envoy to Serbia resigned Wednesday, pre-empting his dismissal just two days into the job for exceeding his powers and making remarks likely to irritate Belgrade. Serbia and its former southern province exchanged official representatives, known as liaison officers, on Monday under a push by the European Union to improve ties between the Balkan neighbors five years after Kosovo declared independence. Rapprochement is central to Serbia’s bid to start membership talks with the 27-nation European Union, which is due to make a decision on opening negotiations on June 28. In acting fast, and quickly naming a replacement, Kosovo appeared to signal that it did not want the episode to damage reconciliation efforts. The envoy, Lulzim Peci, wrote to the president saying he had resigned after Kosovo’s prime minister, Hashim Thaci, criticized remarks he made on taking up the job. Mr. Peci had said Kosovo and Serbia would enjoy normal relations only when Belgrade recognized Kosovo’s independence — a longstanding bone of contention that the two sides have agreed not to force for now. |