‘Another milestone’: Kosovo and Serbia sign rail, road deals

The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo have announced deals to work on building rail and road links between their capitals, Belgrade and Pristina.

The deals, brokered by the United States, were signed on Friday during an international security conference in Munich, Germany.

Both countries’ leaders were present at the signing ceremony together with Richard Grenell, US President Donald Trump’s envoy in the talks.

“I am happy to see progress today and many thanks to President Trump and Richard Grenell on behalf of Serbia, because we feel we will have a better future because of this and that we will ensure peace for future decades,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

“Another milestone!” Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said on Twitter. “A great step towards reaching a final peace agreement.”

Grenell told The Associated Press news agency the “historic agreements to develop railway and motorway connections between Belgrade and Pristina will help facilitate the flow of people and goods between Serbia and Kosovo”.

Last month the US envoy also mediated an agreement towards restoring a flight between the two capitals, a link that was dropped during the 1998-99 war in which Kosovo, a former Serbian province, broke away from Belgrade.