Germany, ultimatum Kosovo: Without Association No Membership in Council of Europe

She has made this clear to the Kosovo government, which she has clearly told the Kosovo government that if they do not form the Association of Serb majority municipalities, they can say goodbye to membership in the Council of Europe, Blick writes.

However, Berlin's interest in association is not only in this clear position of the German Embassy in Pristina, but it can be seen through several other moves, the paper notes.

For example, as Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq discovered two days ago, the German non-governmental organisation “Friedrich Ebert” began drafting the Association statute and proposing what it might look like even from Germany at the end of October last year. It should not be forgotten that one of the authors of the Franco-German proposal for Kosovo is Berlin.

More than ever, in recent months, the West has been united in its view that the Association, agreed with the Brussels Agreement 10 years ago, should be formed.

The message is clear, the consequences are even more

This has been repeated from Germany on several occasions, and then several days ago there was a warning and, could be interpreted, an open threat to Kosovo.

Thus, the German Embassy in Pristina disclosed that “is difficult to ensure the majority for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, while authorities in Kosovo refuse to form the Associate”.

Furthermore, as they have said in their response to Kosovo media, the non-creating association will not only be an obstacle to Kosovo in achieving the necessary majority for application for membership in the Council of Europe, but will also represent serious obstacles to the further EU membership process.

It's also interesting that Germany, at least that's how it was, until a few weeks ago put much greater pressure on Belgrade for different things -- from removing barricades to imposing sanctions against Russia. Now, a nongovernmental organisation from Berlin is working on the Association statute.

“We are informed that “The Friedrich Ebert” Foundation, the German party SPD (the party of Chancellor Scholz), is drafting the Asociation Statistics. A German nongovernmental organisation talks about the competencies of Association is not your job, it is a Serbian leadership team that should deal with it. It's none of your business. Who are you to deal with Association? What do you have to do with Serbs”, said Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, who, as he said, for this “went mad out of anger”.

Two Ways of German Interest

Foreign policy analyst Susan Grubješić notes that the German “government has shown a greater presence and interest in the Western Balkans twice: through the EU, and especially for two crisis areas, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina”.

“Belgrade and Pristina received clear messages about what is expected of them, which is primarily progress in dialogue with EU mediation. No wonder Germany is now insisting on forming association, because it is clear that the ten-year rejection of Kosovo authorities has led the dialogue to deadlock and the situation in northern Kosovo on the threshold. The” conflict, it says for “Blic”.

As she adds, in order for the region to progress, the Berlin process is not enough, but also the resolution of disputes that undermine stability and fuel fears that the conflict in Ukraine could spread to the Western Balkans.

Grubjesic explains that the biggest involvement of the German government is most evident through the German-French plan, under which Belgrade and Pristina must reach an agreement in a relatively short period of time.

The German FES Foundation's work for the drafting of the Association station begins here, even though the management team has drafted the statute in line with the Brussels Agreement and sent it to Brussels in 2018. “Presenting another special envoy for the region, this time to monitor dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Jens Pletner, the Chancellor's adviser, the German government made clear how important it is to resolve this” issue, she points out. .

What will the Association be like?

Similar thinking is Slobodan Zechevic, a scientific adviser from the Institute for European Studies, who nevertheless stresses that the main issue is what association will be formed.

The “in the West has undoubtedly matured to know that association should be formed as part of the Brussels Agreement. With the fact that it is now asked whether the association will be formed in accordance with the Brussels Agreement, or some of the reforms or interpretations will be possible. The problem is that the Brussels Agreement has already been interpreted and agreed to as reflecting the will of the two sides”, it praises “Blic”.

As he says, any change in that post-festum agreement practically leads to new negotiations and adds that the West has seen that without the formation of association, the Serbian people cannot survive.

Conditions for continuing dialogue

Seeing all of this, it would not be wrong to think that Germany is very interested in melting negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina as soon as possible and to make progress. This is illustrated by the head of the Centre for Foreign Policy, Dragan Djukanovic, who says Germany along with France has made the latest proposal for an agreement on resolving the Kosovo issue, which, among other things, envisions decentralisation of Kosovo and the protection of Serb rights.

For that, he says, it has also agreed in 2013 with the Brussels Agreement.

In addition, both the EU and the US for months have noted the necessity of forming association. Regardless, it is difficult to predict Kurt's government movements, and if the association will create”, Djukanovic says.

However, according to him, association will certainly be formed to continue the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

The fact that the organisation “Friedrich Ebert” has announced that it started with drafting the ZSO statute does not necessarily mean anything. That draft could have only one advisory role because the Brussels Agreement clearly defines procedures for who is responsible for writing the Association statute. It is a Serbian leadership team”, he says.