Serbia and Macedonia agreed to mend ties on Wednesday, two days after Belgrade pulled its embassy staff out of Skopje to protest "offensive actions" by its southern neighbour. In a joint statement after a telephone conversation between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the two leaders said they had agreed to a dialogue to solve outstanding issues. "Regardless of political differences over certain important political and regional matters, Serbia and Macedonia will jointly strive not only to preserve, but to improve friendly relations," it said. On Tuesday, Vucic said Serbia's consular staff would resume work in Macedonia next week and the ambassador would return in September. Earlier this week, the Serbian embassy staff were withdrawn because of what Vucic called "offensive actions" against Serbia's institutions, something Macedonian authorities denied . The withdrawal coincided with reports that Skopje was joining diplomatic efforts to secure Kosovo's membership in the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. Kosovo, a former Serbian province, became independent in 2008. Nine years before, NATO air strikes had ousted Serb security forces and ended a two-year crackdown on ethnic Albanians. Kosovo is recognised by 114 countries, including Macedonia and 23 European Union members. But Serbia's allies, Russia and China, are still blocking its full membership of the United Nations and its agencies. On Monday, the Macedonian government said it would take into account the position of a majority of EU members in the vote over Kosovo's UNESCO membership. Nearly a third of Macedonia's population of 2.1 million is ethnic Albanian. Maintaining good relations with neighbours is a key requirement for the six Western Balkan states, including Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia, to make progress towards desired EU membership.
