How Vuciq has changed his stance on Kosovo

From pledges that it is his job not to give Kosovo until the latest statements that Kosovo's independence is a done deal, Serbia's president has changed much since 2012 his stance on Serbia's former province.

After pledging that the task of his Serbian Progressive Party was not “to hand over” Kosovo, if it would come to power, until the latest statements that Serbia's wrong policies had “painted” Kosovo's independence, Aleksandar Vuciqi's rhetoric for Kosovo has changed markedly over the years.

The policy of the new progressive government will not recognise Kosovo,” said in July 2012, according to DW, after his party won Serbia's general elections in May of that year.

A year ago, Serbia and Kosovo began negotiations on “abnormalisation” on relations mediated by the European Union. As Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, Serbia still treats the former province as part of its territory.

A year after the Progressive Party came to power, Serbia and Kosovo signed the Brussels Agreement, adopting a draft agreement with 15 points on normalising relations on 17 April. The text of the agreement was initiated by both prime ministers.

However, Vuciqi's attitude towards independence had not changed. Serbia's “Policy is that Kosovo is not independent, that we will not accept it as a state,” said prior to his trip to Kosovo's majority-Serb north in May 2013, according to the daily Curir.

Serbian media caught Vucinqiqi crying in January 2015 at the ceremony where the monument of medieval king of Serbia Milutin was discovered in Gracanica in central Kosovo.

He later urged Kosovo Serbs not to leave their homeland.

Three months later, Vuciq said during a public appearance that Serbia “will always talk to Albanians, but will never recognise Kosovo's independence”, Tanjug news agency reported.

Maybe your dreams will come true. I have nothing against it. You can hope. Perhaps that will happen for you, but I would not be very sure,” said Vuciq in the same month, answering questions on Kosovo's recognition made by Albanian journalists during his visit to Kosovo.

During this period, Serbian and Kosovo officials continued to hold meetings repeatedly in Brussels, as part of the EU-led dialogue process.

In July 2017, however, the Serbian president surprised the public with a letter published in the daily Blic, where he said Serbs “should not put their heads in the sand like ostriches when it comes to Kosovo” and that reality should be accepted.

This letter at the same time called on all in Serbia to join a so-called internal “dialog for Kosovo's future.

It is time for us as a nation not to put our heads in the sand and try to be realistic, not allowing ourselves to lose or give someone what we have, but also not to wait for what we lost long ago,” stressed Vuciq.

Although it never became clear at what stage the internal “dialog on Kosovo and what its outcome would be, Vucic had clearly changed his language about Kosovo by then.

“There is no good solution for KIM (Kosovo and Metohija) for us, but the compromise implies that both Serbs and Albanians will be somewhat satisfied or disappointed,” said Vuciq on April 13th after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Vecernje Novosti reported.

However, he added, Chancellor Merkel “understands what Kosovo means for Serbia”.

Three days later, the president warned that a final solution would not be easy for Serbs, adding that problems “should not be postponed and should be resolved”, Tanjug news agency reported.

Remember, if you really want a solution, you should win a referendum in your country. The only thing I'm sure about is that the solution will not be painless for Serbs,” he said.

On 25 April Vuciq declared that Serbia's success on the road to EU membership “depends on Kosovo” and that “should resolve this issue”, Tanjug reported.

If you think I'm ready to say tomorrow, you can have Kosovo's independence in exchange for nothing, I'm not ready. But you can have Kosovo in exchange for something. ) Well, let's see what this thing is,” said Vuciq, Kurir reported on May 7th.

Four days later, he again announced the citizens of Serbia that they would have an opportunity to say their word about Kosovo.

He added that “everybody talks about the holy land, but nobody wants to live there”, the Kossev news page reported.

The same report stated that Vuciq had also said that Kosovo is for us when we need to give someone a political slap, and when we need to show with a concrete work what Kosovo is for us, but then basically nothing, or is less than”.

Vuciqi's latest statement for Kosovo, the Tanjug news agency reported on May 13th, was that the wrong “polica and some of Serbia's movements had almost sealed the Kosovo independence envelope”.

The Serbian president also added that he was concerned by reports that more people were leaving Serbia.