Kosovo's parliament voted on Saturday to form a negotiating team to try to resolve recent disputes with Serbia.
The two countries committed to a European Union-sponsored dialogue aimed at settling all remaining issues between them in 2013, but little progress has been made since.
Relations between Belgrade and Kosovo have been strained since 2008.
President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci (L) and Kosovo Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli (R) attend the state ceremony after Kosovo's parliament on Friday overwhelmingly passed a law making a 5,000-strong standing Kosovar army a reality, in Pristina, Kosovo, on December 14, 2018. /VCG Photo
Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci raised concerns at home in June when he announced that he will seek a solution with Belgrade by changing borders.
And on Friday they reached a new low when Kosovo's parliament voted to approve the creation of a 5,000-strong standing army, only a week after Serbia's premier suggested such a move could provoke military intervention by Belgrade.
"Today we have taken a decision that is important to save our sovereignty and integrity and in partnership with the international community," Kadri Veseli, the speaker of the Kosovar parliament, said after the resolution, which will be backed by law within 30 days.
Most opposition MPs boycotted the session to approve the negotiating team, which will have 12 members from government, the opposition and civil society.