The Belgrade–Pristina dialogue is a series of EU-facilitated talks between the governments of Serbia and Kosovo. Serbia claims Kosovo as its southern province under United Nations administration, and rejects its independence. Kosovo considers Serbia as a neighboring state. The negotiations began in March 2011, three years after Kosovo declared independence. They are the first negotiations between the two entities since Kosovo declared independence in February 2008. Background The Republic of Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008, and has been partially recognized internationally. Serbia took the issue to the International Court of Justice for their advisory opinion. The court's verdict was that Kosovo's Declaration of independence was in accordance with international law. After the verdict Serbia and the European Union submitted a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly which called for technical negotiations between the governments in Belgrade and Pristina. The Serbia-EU resolution passed in the UN General Assembly. The talks were delayed due to the collapse of the Kosovar government, forcing Kosovo into early elections. The dialogue serves the interests of both Kosovo and Serbia. For Serbia, progress in the dialogue, in the implementation of agreements reached and in the normalization of relations, is a key condition to advance in accession negotiations. Kosovo's progress on its EU path – such as the signing of its Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union, is linked to progress on the dialogue. The EU facilitated Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was launched in March 2011 following a United Nations General Assembly Resolution in September 2010 co-sponsored by the European Union and Serbia, which affirmed the readiness of the EU to facilitate the dialogue and recognized the process as an important transformative power for peace, security and stability in the region. The dialogue is held in Brussels and is facilitated by the European Union High Representative, the Vice President of the European Commission, and the team in the European External Action Service (EEAS). Meetings and working groups are convened at various levels in Brussels, Belgium, both technical – at chief negotiators' level – and political – at Prime Ministers' and/or Presidents' level. Initial talks The talks were first mediated by Robert Cooper. Oliver Ivanović said that Belgrade and Pristina were urged to continue talks in Brussels, but Serbia is not obliged to recognize Kosovo at any point in the process. Borko Stefanović led the Belgrade negotiating team and Edita Tahiri led