Kosovo and Serbia appear to have reached agreement on a proposal pushed by the US and the major EU countries, that would have Serbia de-facto recognize Kosovo while gaining a foothold in the majority Serb north of the country.

President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Albin Kurti met in Brussels yesterday and after the meeting Kurti declared that the proposal was accepted by both sides, while the EU hosts published it. Vucic added that more meetings will take place, including in Macedonia in a few weeks.

The text pledges the two countries to commit to peace, respect of sovereignty, territorial integrity, protection of minorities and good neighborly relations. Instead of clearly declaring that Serbia recognizes Kosovo, it states that the two countries recognize each others’ national symbols and documents. Serbia expects major concession from the EU in exchange for this agreement, including in infrastructure funds and a fast track to EU membership. Kosovo will use it to join the Council of Europe, but also possibly the UN and NATO, while asking for visa liberalization from the EU.

Kosovan Albanians fear that the treaty will allow Serbia to carve out the northern part of the city of Kosovska Mitrovica and its surrounding rural municipalities as its own zone, with an association of municipalities that will have a number of shared powers. Albanians have compared this to the much larger Republika Srpska in Bosnia, which acts independently from the central Bosnian authorities.

Albanian political leaders in Macedonia have used this to call for a similar union of Albanian majority municipalities in Macedonia, noting that the share of the Albanian population in Macedonia is far larger than that of the Serbian population in Kosovo.