The Brussels Agreement, formally the First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalisation of Relations, was initialled on 19 April 2013 by Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton mediating. It is the cornerstone of the EU-facilitated Belgrade–Pristina Dialogue launched in 2011.
The text contains 15 short points. Its central provision is the creation of an Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities (often abbreviated ASM or ZSO) in Kosovo, which would coordinate on economic development, education, health, urban and rural planning. Other points dissolve parallel Serbian security structures in northern Kosovo, integrate Serb police under the Kosovo Police (with a regional commander for the four northern municipalities to be an ethnic Serb), and fold parallel courts into the Kosovo judicial system. Both sides also agreed not to block, or encourage others to block, each other's EU accession progress.
Implementation has been partial and contested. Kosovo held municipal elections in the north in November 2013, and police and judicial integration advanced. However, the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities has never been established. In December 2015 the Kosovo Constitutional Court ruled that key elements of the proposed statute were not fully compatible with the Kosovo Constitution, freezing the project. Subsequent crises — barricades, license-plate disputes, the September 2023 Banjska attack, and the withdrawal of ethnic Serbs from Kosovo institutions in late 2022 — have repeatedly stalled progress.
The Brussels Agreement was succeeded but not replaced by the Ohrid Agreement (March 2023) and an accompanying Implementation Annex, which set out further normalisation steps including de facto recognition obligations. Serbia continues to refuse formal recognition of Kosovo's independence, declared in 2008, while Kosovo insists the ASM cannot become a Republika Srpska–style entity with executive powers.
Example
In April 2013, Serbian PM Ivica Dačić and Kosovo PM Hashim Thaçi initialled the Brussels Agreement in talks chaired by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Frequently asked questions
No. The 2013 agreement normalises practical relations and obliges Serbia not to block Kosovo's EU path, but it does not constitute formal diplomatic recognition of Kosovo's statehood.
Keep learning