This chapter examines the paradoxical launch of the EU-led normalization dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in early 2011, shortly after the International Court of Justice confirmed the legality of Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence. Rather than pressing Serbia to recognize Kosovo, the EU initiated a dialogue framed as technical but one that quickly evolved into a central political mechanism for Kosovo. Drawing on first-person observations, interviews with key participants, and ethnographic encounters, the chapter argues that the dialogue was shaped by three intersecting forces: the EU’s ambition to assert its diplomatic role through the newly formed European External Action Service (EEAS), a Western strategy to manage Serbia’s gradual reintegration into the Euro-Atlantic fold; and the personal leadership styles of successive EU mediators. The chapter explores how the dialogue functioned less as a path to recognition than a pressure-management tool that allowed Serbia to rebrand itself internationally while postponing fundamental compromises. It analyzes the EU’s status-neutral approach, the improvisational nature of negotiations, and how timing around EU accession milestones shaped Belgrade’s behavior. Through the lens of local experience and insider knowledge, it offers a critical account of how EU crisis diplomacy prioritized pragmatism and ambiguity, often at the cost of clarity and reciprocity for Kosovo. By highlighting the personal, institutional, and geopolitical factors that defined the process, the chapter sets the stage for a broader reflection on the EU’s mediation style and its consequences for post-conflict normalization efforts in contested statehood contexts.