Ischinger: Europe must come with a plan for Kosovo- Serbia

Two decades after the end of the war in Kosovo, a solution between Belgrade and Pristina remains elusive and frustration goes up in the region, writes Politico.eu.

Europe cannot allow longer to wait and hope that this issue takes its course. An unresolved conflict in the heart of Europe is an unacceptable geopolitical danger, especially at a time of global unrest.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's President Emmanuel Macron took the matter to heart at the beginning of the year, when Western Balkan leaders in Berlin were invited to Berlin in late April. But the talks did not reveal what the region needs -- a real plan for their integration into European Union structures.

France and Germany will have another opportunity to deal with this problem at another meeting, including the Berlin Process, held in Poland on 5 July. They urgently need to make real progress.

Serbia and Kosovo find it impossible to come up with a <x0ndigenous solution” to the problem, as if the one between Greece and North Macedonia that was reached in the last year on the name dispute.

Beyond the elusive agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, The EU has an important role to promote the development of the economy in the region.

This implies that Europe should come with a plan it could be presented to the Belgrade and Pristina authorities. And that plan must be supported by the persistent.

The 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, although it was not perfect as a political framework for a functional state ʹ is a good example of the kind of diplomacy that should be followed in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. For this agreement to be reached was the “Contact Group” established between the major acts aimed at ending the war in Bosnia: The EU, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, plus America and Russia.

The context and today's case are different, of course it's not about ending the war, it's about the integration of the region into the EU. But the 1995 accord has a big difference with Europe: As long as the bloc has to take the lead in negotiations, it also has to co-ordinate closely for the performers, including Washington and Moscow, which also have their strategic interests in the region, broadcast the Kosovo Clan.

The EU also has to work with Turkey, which plays a key role in all countries of the region dominated by the Muslim population of China, which <x0ndripi and the Incitore route” make a player more important in the area.

Europe must insist on setting certain conditions. Kosovo must comply with the consistent negotiator position and suspend unilateral tariffs it has imposed on products from Serbia and Bosnia. Serbia for its part should stop global campaigning of “recognition” of Kosovo's independence and end efforts to block entry through international organisations.

This project is not related to charities but to promoting European interests, for example completing infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans, which are vital to the EU's strategic connection.

Instead of leaving local leaders to take money from China for investment, the EU must provide governments with the necessary funds and insist that they follow the bloc's rules of procurement and transparent trade.

The countries of the region must understand that success of cross-border co-operation is the ticket to closer proximity to the EU. The narrowly integrated regional market is not “ex1> from which they will never emerge; it will increase prosperity and help them more easily meet possible criteria for joining the EU.

The EU must also invest in the order and law of the region. The governments of the Western Balkans need to make greater efforts in fighting the effective Kleptocracy and the EU to help them do so.

Perhaps most importantly, the EU and its member states must strengthen and support civil society in the region in the requirements for transparency and accountability of local leaders. For real long-term stability, the region needs a strong civil society for those in power to manage.

Europe has a guide on how to do this: The European Commission's Enlargement Strategy for 2018 contains a long list of useful and real recommendations on how to support the region's economic and democratic consolidation. Unfortunately, the EU has ignored its advice.

It is also sad that the EU has decided to postpone starting talks with Albania and Northern Macedonia for EU accession, despite earlier pledges by national governments and recommendations of the European Commission.

To show the good will, The EU should at least commit to visa liberalisation for Kosovo without further delay.

If the EU cannot offer a creditable way for accession, it will lose its license in the region. Conditions to ensure must be severed. But they must also be right: when countries meet the criteria set by the EU, they should not be drawn back from consideration by national capitals. To show the good will, The EU should at least commit to visa liberalisation for Kosovo without further delay.

France and Germany well know that they cannot hope to resolve the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia without offering the region the possibility of launching accession talks in the EU. If they do not convey the positive signal that now, future meetings could end with frustration and growing hostility.

Wolfgang Ischinger is chairman of the Safety Conference in Munich. He is Germany's former US ambassador and has been Germany's chief negotiator in the 1995 Dayton Agreement talks and EU representative in talks on Kosovo's future in 2007.