Sign deal or face consequences, EU envoy tells Kosovo, Serbia

FILE PHOTO: The EU's Special Representative for Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak (L) and then-Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz attend a Western Balkans conference at the Chancellery in Vienna, Austria, June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo and Serbia should state by March whether they accept an international plan to normalise relations or face repercussions from the European Union and United States, the EU's envoy on the matter said on Wednesday.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a guerrilla uprising against Belgrade's repressive rule. Over the past decade, the two have been holding normalisation talks under EU mediation, with a successful outcome key to realising the aspirations of both to join the wealthy bloc.