UPDATE - EU urges renewal of Black Sea grain deal before it expires

ADDS REMARKS ON TENSIONS IN WEST BALKANS

By Iclal Turan and Talha Ozturk

ISTANBUL/BELGRADE (AA) – The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Monday that the international community needs to ensure the renewal of the Black Sea grain deal before it expires this weekend.

In a press conference following an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Josep Borrell said “the international community needs to ensure the renewal and practical implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative beyond the 19th of November.”

Borrell said it is “very much important” that this initiative brokered by the UN and Türkiye is implemented.

Adding that Russia has “no reason” to block food going out from Ukraine to international markets, Borrell called on Moscow to “stop weaponizing food.”

The EU, US and UK released a joint statement Monday calling on global partners “to bring Ukrainian and Russian food and fertilizer to meet acute demand, and to continue to advance the accessibility of food to all.”

On July 22, Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been paused in February due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The parties are currently negotiating a possible extension and expansion beyond its Nov. 19 deadline, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying that Ankara is determined to transfer Russian grain and fertilizers to less-developed countries.

As the EU foreign ministers convened in Brussels, Borrell said they discussed the war as well as other regional issues such as the situation in the Western Balkans.

Borrell said that EU sanctions on Russia are “weakening” the Russian economy and the capacity of the Russian army to renew its material.

As EU officials sanctioned more than 30 senior Iranian officials and organizations over supplying drones to Russia and a crackdown on protestors, Borrell said “drones provided by Iran to Russia is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.”

- Western Balkans

Borrell also said that Western Balkans countries are feeling the immediate damaging impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

''We are facing the most serious, the most dangerous crisis since 2013 – of the last 10 years. Both parties – both parties -- need to urgently show readiness to find a way forward to lower these tensions. It is not acceptable for either party to violate or ignore their dialogue obligations,'' he said as tensions continue to soar over a longstanding row over license plates between Kosovo and Serbia.

He said that chief negotiators will start working on the next steps starting from tonight as the Kosovo side is already arriving.

''I am ready to convene the leaders if negotiators manage to advance towards a practical solution on the issue of (license) plates before the 21 November deadline. We cannot reach this date without having an agreement or we will be on the edge of a dangerous situation. You know, the withdrawal of the Serbs from the institutions, the dismissing of the police, of the judiciary, of the measures, has created a vacuum in the north of Kosovo. In this vacuum, the worst can happen. Both parties need to show more flexibility,” said Borrell.

Top Serbian and Kosovar officials held meetings over the weekend with Borrell, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Miroslav Lajcak, the EU special representative for the Western Balkans.

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have risen after Kosovo Serbs withdrew from all central and local institutions in protest over Pristina’s decision to replace license plates issued to Serbs by Serbian authorities with plates from the Republic of Kosovo.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade continues to regard it as its territory.

Pristina said it will start issuing fines this month to Serb drivers using old pre-independence plates and will confiscate vehicles with outdated registration numbers after April 21, 2023.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said that Belgrade abides by the Brussels Agreement, a 2013 deal to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo, and called on the EU and Pristina to do the same.

The EU and NATO have urged both sides to refrain from unilateral actions and resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Brussels has facilitated a dialogue between the two countries designed to decrease tensions and resolve bilateral issues, one of the requirements for full-fledged EU membership.