10 years of dialogue Kosovo-Serbia still without agreement

Until the start of the talks came after the UN General Assembly in 2010 adopted the resolution by the then 27 EU nations, which paved the way for the start of dialogue, with the goal of peace, security and stability.

The opinion of the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2010 contributed to this, under which Kosovo's declaration of independence does not present violations of international law.

Technical dialogue in 2011 was led by the Government of Kosovo, and at the head of the Kosovo negotiating team was Edita Tahiri.

Even though it was initially warned that Kosovo will only talk to Serbia on technical issues, which have been led by technical teams of both states in late 2012, along with technical talks, talks also began on the political level for normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

The negotiations were conducted by then prime ministers Hashim Thaci and Ivica Dacic. The first agreement under this process was reached between the two prime ministers, in April 2013. Later, the process was set up in negotiations at the presidential level. Kosovo was represented by President Hashim Thaci, while Serbia was Aleksandar Vuciq.

So far over 23 agreements in dialogue on the technical and political level have been reached. The first agreement in 2011 was for civil records.

In 2015, agreement has been reached on the dissolution and integration of the so-called “Civil Protection” north of Kosovo, agreement on mutual recognition of vehicle officers, for energy, and the certificate agreement. ADR, while in January 2017, agreement on the integration of the judiciary into northern Kosovo.

In November 2018, the Kosovo government, led by Ramush Haradinaj, imposed a 100 per cent tax on goods from Serbia and Bosnia, conditioning the withdrawal of that decision with recognition of Kosovo by official Belgrade.

While Albin Kurti, who headed the Government of Kosovo for 51 days, abolished the tax ruling in 2020 and replaced it with reciprocity measures.

After the fall of the Kurti Government, Avdullah Hoti came to the helm of the government from the LDK, which among his first decisions he made was abolishing the reciprocity decision.

The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue resumed on 16 July 2020 in Brussels, with the meeting of Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq, where the main theme was found persons and economic co-operation. While 4 September in Washington, the Kosovo-Serbia agreement, with US mediation, was signed for economic normalisation.

The deal includes a series of economic projects, such as the construction of highways, railway lines and the launch of Pristina-Belgrade flights. In this agreement, the parties have also agreed that the US conducts feasibility study in Weyman.

Following the February 14th 2021 parliamentary elections in Kosovo, the leader of the ruling Vetevendosje Movement party, Albin Kurti, has warned that dialogue will be the fourth priority in its governance, while EU Special Emissar Miroslav Lajcak has said he expects the Kurti-Vucciq meeting before summer.