4 hours agoFinal agreement, months or years?
Periskopi(6 years ago)
(6 years ago)Final Kosovo- Serbia is a matter of months and not years, according to the European Union for Foreign Policy and Security High Representative Josep Borrell, if both sides are constructive. But according to those who analyse political developments in Kosovo, something like this is not expected to happen in an imminent period of time. Request [...]
Final Kosovo- Serbia is a matter of months and not years, according to the European Union for Foreign Policy and Security High Representative Josep Borrell, if both sides are constructive. But according to those who analyse political developments in Kosovo, something like this is not expected to happen in an imminent period of time. The Serbian side's request to discuss the Association of Serb-run municipalities in Brussels, and the Kosovo Government's refusal to open this topic has caused the process of dialogue to stalled.
Early in the week, Josep Borrell, ahead of the foreign ministers in Luxembourg, spoke of the process of Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, which he called complex.
However, according to him, reaching the final agreement is a matter of months and not years, as he said, if both sides engage constructively.
I personally believe that reaching the final agreement is a matter of months and not years, provided all parties are engaged constructively. We don't prewrite what the solution is. We won't even set artificial deadlines to speed up the process. We welcome all initiatives in support of dialogue. We also welcome US engagement, but it is the EU that leads this process”, Borrell said.
Speaking on this issue, Arber Fetah from the Group for Jurydical and Political Studies says the final agreement within weeks would be possible if there was more substantial co-operation between the United States and the European Union, which, according to him, would have greater pressure.
According to him, such statements are made in order to strengthen his role within the European Union itself.
The “This would probably be more possible if we had an impact and a more conservative co-operation with the United States of America and the EU where the pressure of the two countries would be greater and the way of structured arguments and reaching the agreement would probably be better and more inclusive and more acceptable to both sides, in this case even for the Kosovo side. We think Borrell's claim and this statement also serves to strengthen his position within the European Union, considering that it is a new task for him and we see as he wanted to prove to countries like Germany and France that are the main countries of the European Union, that the EU is doing something about dialogue”, he says.
Kosovo and Serbia returned to the negotiating table three months ago, meanwhile, the process has now stalled because the Serbian side is insisting on reopening the association theme -- something Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has already declared to be a closed issue.
According to analyst Faton Abdullahu, a final agreement should occur when the European Union and Belgrade recognise Kosovo state as it is with internal regulation, writes Cosovapress.
“Borell has said the Kosovo- Serbia is a matter of months if we have constructiveness from the parties, but what privacy is required by the Kosovo side, he has not told us. We say this agreement is really a matter of months, maybe weeks like the European Union, Brussels itself and official Belgrade would be consistent, before first they recognize the will of most of Kosovo's citizens, the absolute majority of what Kosovo should be like, with borders like it has, with social regulation, internal law as it does, and things will move forward and security in the Balkans away from the better than it is now, he says.
Also, according to Arber Fetah from G LSP, Kosovo and Serbia in dialogue are in opposing positions on what they want from the process.
“Since Serbia does not give up implementation of Association and on the other hand we do not have recognition as a condition for implementing association or reaching an agreement, I think the dialogue can go indefinitely or be suspended and return to a status point called”, he adds.
The European Union has stepped up pressures related to continuing dialogue and reaching a final agreement.
EU Special Representative for the Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue Miroslav Lajcak at the end of his visit to Pristina has declared that there can be no final agreement without the Association of the Serb Majorities.
After Kosovo, he has visited Belgrade, where he has also mentioned the possibility of changing the Constitution aimed at implementing the Association Agreement.
The establishment of association is envisioned with the Kosovo-Serbia Brussels Agreement in 2013.
Two years later the two countries have also signed an additional agreement on its establishment, but the Constitutional Court has found that the principles for it are not in line with the Kosovo Constitution.
