Half a year has passed since the two Western Balkans countries agreed to normalise their relations and pave their way in the accession process to join the EU but the implementation of the agreement has stalled.
As previously reported, the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo discussed in February 2023 an EU proposal on normalisation of their relations at their first high-level meeting this year of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
The proposal, which had been in the making for a whole year, was published by the European External Action Service (EEAS) and is labelled “Agreement on the path to normalisation between Kosovo and Serbia”. It had all the hallmarks of an agreement but lacked perhaps the most important thing – the signatures of President Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and Prime Minister Albin Kurti of Kosovo.
On the positive side, the EU proposal was endorsed by all 27 member states at the latest European Council. But it did not help. In a statement today (19 September) on behalf of the EU, High Representative Josep Borrell felt obliged to express his and EU’s concerns over the lack of implementation by Kosovo and Serbia of their commitments under the agreement.
Today’s statement followed the High-Level Dialogue meeting last week, hosted by the High Representative. According to his press remarks after that meeting, the negotiations between the two parties have hardly been followed by any implementation on the ground. On the contrary, the tension between the two countries has escalated. At a previous high-level meeting in Brussels, the two leaders even refused to meet each-other and talked separately with High Representative Borrell.
Only three minor elements have been addressed so far according to Borrell but the implementation of the most important and substantial points has not yet started.
“This is very regrettable, and it speaks volumes about the Parties’ true commitment to normalisation of relations – or rather the absence of it. The absence of commitment.” He accused them of violating their dialogue obligations and breaching their promises and put most of the blame on the Kosovo Prime Minister “who insisted on formalising de facto recognition as the first step”.
He also explained why the implementation process had not moved forward. The two countries started from opposite ends, with Kosovo wanted first to implement the political aspects of normalisation (recognition by Serbia), while Serbia wanted to start with local self-government in the north of Kosovo, which is inhabited by a Serbian minority. Ethnic Serbs account for about 5 % or 100,000 of the population in Kosovo.
“This is why, we proposed what we see as the only possible compromise today – a process that would allow these two to run in parallel. This is the best compromise that we could offer. Moving on implementation in parallel would ensure that the core principles – namely that you have to do something in order to get something – are fulfilled.”
Despite repeated calls by the EU and other international partners, the steps taken so far remain insufficient and the security situation in the north remains tense, Borrell stated today.
“The EU urges the Parties to engage constructively and in good faith. This means starting the implementation based on the EU Proposal without further delay.” While both countries need to fulfill their parts of the agreement in parallel, he stressed that the work to establish the Association/ Community of Serb Majority Municipalities needs to start without any further delay or pre-condition”.
The EU recalled “the importance of swiftly holding early local elections in the north of Kosovo to help defuse the tensions. The quickest solution to enable the calling of the elections is necessary. We encourage Kosovo Serbs to fully engage in the electoral process and publicly state their unconditional participation.”
Following recent allegations by Kosovo that the dialogue is biased, the EU expressed its full support to Borrell’s efforts as facilitator of the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, as well as to EU Special Representative Miroslav Lajčák. Kosovo and Serbia were reminded that they have no other choice if they want to become members of the EU.
“The European path of both Kosovo and Serbia goes through the EU-facilitated Dialogue and through the normalisation of their relations. Both risk losing opportunities for progressing on their European paths.”
Does the EU need to reconsider its approach and change course after the dialogue has failed?
Peter Stano, EU’s lead spokesperson for foreign affairs, replied that the dialogue had not failed, at least not yet, but only “This round of it which did not bring any results because the parties failed to agree”. He admitted that it was a scenario which keeps repeating itself with the parties unable to bridge their differences.
He recalled that the EU is not party to the dialogue, only Kosovo and Serbia. EU’s role is to facilitate the dialogue based on the wishes expressed by both parties and the endorsement by all member states. “We are there to help them to bridge their differences but we’ll never succeed if they refuse to go down the path of compromise.”
“If you are trying to help someone, who doesn’t want to be helped, what can you do?” he asked rhetorically.
In the meantime, the temporary and reversible measures that the EU has taken remain in place, including the suspension of high-level meetings with Kosovo. The EU stands ready to lift these measures in case of progress in fulfilling the existing requests, or assess further measures towards both parties, if needed. “We need to use both carrots and sticks,” the spokesperson said.
One carrot which the EU already has used is granting visa liberalization to Kosovo which will enter into force in January 2024.
The EU also reminded the two countries of “their responsibility to uphold the principle of confidentiality in the Dialogue, which is a key component of any politically sensitive negotiation process”. For the time being, the EU does not consider upgrading its own role in the dialogue from “facilitator” to “actor”. Contrary to the situation in other conflicts, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is solely led by the EU.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
