Resumption of Kosovo-Serbia talks, solution to tensions drop

The Balkan Group's executive director for the drafting of policy, Naim Rashit, tells the Voice of America that the current situation is putting Kosovo into a long and serious status quo. He says an ongoing process of Kosovo- Serbia could lower high tensions between the two countries.

The intensive process of the process lowers tensions, lowers blood, and of course with internal co-ordination, if elites in Kosovo and Serbia manage to co-ordinate actions between themselves because this is the main defect of these two years, but as such it would make the process much more practical and save from the rise of” tensions, he said.

Life Krasniqi from the Kosovo Democratic Institute says the negotiation process has often been misused by Pristina and Belgrade, and this has also affected interethnic relations in the country.

“Dialogue Kosovo- Serbia has also influenced interethnic relations in Kosovo, as communities have often been held hostage by politics, whether of Pristina or official Belgrade. This shows that politics in Kosovo should be more vigilant and should show a greater seriousness that certainly Kosovo-Serbia dialogue remains a matter of high importance but not to put other issues aside”, she said.

Analysts say the coming months will be difficult for continuing Kosovo- Serbia, according to them, is losing interest in the international factor in resolving the issue between the two countries.

Rashit says that since the decline of interest, Kosovo would suffer most, from managing domestic challenges to international ones.

Kosovo must then think well and make solutions, is it able politically and institutionally to maintain internal sustainability, to consolidate the state as long as other international circumstances allow. But it will be a long, serious status quo which, of course, can be managed but requires a lot of political commitment for which we are not even seeing the leaders ready”, he said.

Meanwhile, Life Krasniqi also draws attention to the lack of co-ordination of Kosovo institutions in the face of talks with Serbia, which could bring about a poor deal for the country.

The fact remains that even if tariffs are removed and the parties returned to dialogue, Kosovo is not prepared in the sense that there is not yet a unique position of the state of Kosovo which is supported by institutional leaders, and that it certainly harms Kosovo's role, but also Kosovo's own future and the position of Kosovo at the chat table”, she said.

Kosovo and Serbia continue to maintain unchanged positions in the face of the possibility of continuing talks. As long as Serbia requires lifting tariffs on Serbian goods as a condition to continue the talks, Kosovo requires talks not to be conditioned.