The conflict over Kosovo's independence is the Western Balkan's long-running flash point.
For Serbia and Kosovo, however, it is also a stumbling block on their path to the EU.
(Marina Vulovic, Western Balkan expert)
"Well, solving the conflict, of course, would be very important for both countries because, of course, without a normalization process, there will be no EU membership for either of the two countries, so for either Serbia or Kosovo."
Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia does not recognize this. Ethnic Albanians comprise the majority of Kosovo's roughly 1.8 million people.
Serbs are the majority in northern Kosovo and remain largely loyal to Belgrade.
After more than ten years of EU-led talks between Belgrade and Pristina, an agreement in principle was reached at the beginning of the year. Since then, implementation has stalled.
(Peter Stano, EU Commission spokesperson)
“There is very little movement. Quite to the contrary, we are facing constantly some crisis that pops up, especially in the north of Kosovo, and this is the saddest part because we are trying and the only ones who are paying the price for it are not people in Brussels, or people in the member states, but ordinary people in Kosovo and Serbia.”
Tensions have recently intensified again. This year, the northern region of Kosovo experienced some of the worst violence seen since the declaration of independence.
The climax was reached in September when around 30 Serbian gunmen clashed with Kosovar police in the village of Banjska, leaving one policeman and three gunmen dead.
The EU condemned this and called for justice and accountability.
Marina Vulovic thinks the incident changes the dynamic of the normalization process.
(Marina Vulovic, Western Balkan expert)
“So, I think it's really more important than ever to work on, on bringing those two parties closer to the negotiating table, because without negotiations we run the risk of further escalation.”
She thinks the EU should put pressure on Serbia to conduct an independent investigation, and on both parties to implement the agreement before the EU elections next summer.
The topic is not officially on the agenda of a meeting between Western Balkan and EU leaders, but it’s likely to cast its shadow over the discussions.