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| - Serbia's refusal to recognise Kosovo's independence is the major sticking point of a long-running dispute between the two sides, due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday. But it is not the only source of tension still haunting the Balkan neighbours more than 20 years after their war. Here are the main points of contention between the two sides. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has since been formally recognised by roughly 100 countries, most recently by Israel under a deal brokered by former US president Donald Trump. For Kosovo's new Prime Minister Albin Kurti, nothing can be discussed until the reality of independence is accepted. But Serbia insists the declaration is illegal and has watched with fury as Kosovo has been granted membership of the World Bank, IMF, Olympic Committee, FIFA and UEFA. The refusal of Serbia's key allies Russia and China to recognise the split has in effect blocked Kosovo's path to UN membership. Belgrade has enshrined in its constitution that Kosovo is an integral part of its territory, with many Serbs considering Kosovo to be the cradle of their national and religious heritage. Heritage is at the heart of a dispute about the stewardship of religious monuments that has embroiled the UN's cultural organisation UNESCO. Kosovo caused outrage in Serbia recently by asking UNESCO to recognise its responsibility for four major Orthodox monuments, including the Visoki Decani monastery, which has been guarded by NATO for two decades. UNESCO regards the sites as "high points of the Byzantine-Romanesque ecclesiastical culture" and placed them on its list of world heritage in danger in 2006 because of political instability. Kosovo officials cannot enter them without approval from the Orthodox Church, which recently refused to allow Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to visit. The two sides are also tussling for ownership of assets from when they were part of Yugoslavia, including mines, minerals and even real estate such as embassies. Ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo is still home to an estimated 120,000 Serbs, who are largely loyal to Belgrade. They are clustered around the divided northern city of Mitrovica, but also in a dozen predominantly Serb enclaves where Pristina has sometimes struggled to exercise its authority. In Serb areas, locals fly the Serbian flag, use its currency and refuse any loyalty to Pristina, which accuses Belgrade of overseeing a "parallel system" by funding public services such as education and healthcare. A 2013 agreement called for the creation of an association of 10 Serb-majority "municipalities" in Kosovo, but it has never been implemented as the two sides cannot agree on how it would work. Between 70,000 and 200,000 Serbs -- according to Pristina and Belgrade estimates respectively -- fled Kosovo after the 1998-99 war that left 13,000 dead with some 1,700 still missing. Belgrade demands that they are allowed to return home and compensated for their lost property. Kosovo, however, is considering its own demand for compensation for war damage caused by Serb forces. Officials have also suggested launching a genocide lawsuit against Serbia at the UN's International Court of Justice. ih/jxb/wdb
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