Zelensky, Vucic to meet in Athens on Tuesday

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday that he would hold a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday.

That's according to N1, Ukrinform reports.

Vucic is in Athens at the invitation of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to an informal dinner along with other Western Balkans leaders, including Kosovo, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine’s Zelensky. The Serbian president said no details of the meeting in Athens were disclosed due to security concerns over Zelensky’s attendance.

“I want to inform the public that I will have a bilateral meeting with him at the request of the Ukrainian President. I will talk to Zelensky about everything that has happened recently in Kosovo. I believe we will have an open and good conversation,” he said.

Vucic said that he had a “good” meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Layen. “The negotiations were good and not always easy but that is logical… We discussed the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and I expect (EU envoy) Miroslav Lajcak to come to Belgrade soon,” he said, adding that the parties also discussed Russia.

The Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognized state that Serbia considers its territory. The Parliament of Kosovo declared independence of the region in 2008.

The EU has been mediating negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo since 2011. Inter-ethnic tension periodically flares up between the two parties, in particular, over the status of enclaves home to a predominantly Serbian population in the north of Kosovo.