Plans were set for the White House to host talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovar President Hashim Thaçi on June 27. The American side hoped to play a key role in resolving the dispute that has plagued the Balkans since Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Kosovo declared independence nearly a decade after the end of violent conflict between the ethnic Serb-dominated Yugoslav military and the ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo Liberation Army, which concluded in NATO bombing the Serbian capital of Belgrade.
