Ohrid, 19 March 2023 (MIA) — Now it is up to the EU to find a way to make this agreement legally binding, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said late Saturday night after the 12-hour meeting held in Ohrid as part of the EU-facilitated Belgrade–Prishtina Dialogue.

Speaking to the press, Kurti said he was ready to sign the agreement for normalizing Serbia–Kosovo relations and its implementation annex, but that Serbia again refused to sign it, like they did at the previous meeting in Brussels on Feb. 27.

According to Kurti, the agreement de facto means mutual recognition of both countries.

Asked if Serbs who had left Kosovo would start moving back, Kurti said he advocated for the rights of all Kosovo citizens.

“This means I support those who want to return. Most of them have already sold their properties, but some still have properties in Kosovo,” he said, adding he advocated for the rights of all citizens, regardless of their ethnicity.

Late on Saturday night, EU high representative Josep Borrell said Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the implementation of the agreement for normalizing their relations they had accepted in Brussels on Feb. 27.

On Sunday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said although Serbia was ready to implement the agreement, he did not sign it because "Serbia is an internationally recognized country, and Kosovo isn't."

Vucic added that Serbia would not recognize Kosovo's independence or support its UN membership but would nonetheless work on the implementation because it was important for the country to move forward on its path to the EU. mr/