Officialisation of the Ohrid Agreement, “unable until the end of January”

One such thing was warned by the European Union's special envoy in the dialogue on normalising Kosovo-Serbia relations, Miroslav Lajcak.

He said he is expecting Kosovo's response to the issue, which has been offered “several options”.

Official Pristina insists that the agreement on normalisation of relations, also known as the Ohrid Agreement, be signed which official Belgrade rejects.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, agreed verbally on it in February, while on the annex of its implementation reached reconciliation in March.

The EU says the document is legally binding for both sides even without signing.

Radio Free Europe addressed the Government of Kosovo with the question of what the formalisation “of the agreement, mentioned by Lajcak, means, and what options have Kosovo been offered for its “formalisation”.

Instead of the response, the Government of Kosovo conveyed a Facebook Kurt post through which he offered the signing of the Agreement with Serbia at the European Council Summit, to be held on March 21st and 22nd of 2024.

What does the other Kurt say?

Kurti also offered draft draft status for forming the Association of Serb majority municipalities in co-operation with his ministers: Nenad Rassic of the Ministry for Communities and Return and Elbert Krasniqi of the Ministry of Management of Local Power.

His stance came after Lajcak, in an interview for the Kosovo newspaper Express, on December 21st, said that the implementation of the Association Agreement does not need to be signed anything, because draft-state is an internal “document” Kosovo.

The legal act, as is currently designed [state], should be Kosovo's internal document. With the signing of Kosovo and Serbia, the statute would become an international agreement, which is not”, Lajcak said.

Responding to this, Kurti said that if the statute is Kosovo's internal issue, he is willing to write it next year, along with his ministers.

Minister for Communities and Kthim Rassic said in a brief proposal for Radio Free Europe that it is available to the prime minister if, in any way, his help in drafting the draft association is needed.

On 21 October, Lajcak, along with representatives of the US, France, Germany and Italy, surrendered to Pristina and Belgrade a draft status for forming the Association, which, in principle, was accepted by both sides.

The EU said it is “a modern European proposal for the protection of minority communities' rights”.

The Association Agreement, which should grant more autonomy to Serbs in Kosovo, Pristina and Belgrade, was reached in 2013.

However, Kosovo refused to implement it with the argument that it could negatively affect the internal functionality of the state.

What do they say in Serbia?

Radio Free Europe also addressed the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia and the presidency of Serbia over the possible formalisation of the Agreement for normalising relations between Pristina and Belgrade next month, but until the publication of this article, no response was received.

Serbia's president, Vuciq, said earlier that he would not sign any agreement that would imply recognition of Kosovo or its membership in the United Nations.

But, with the Ohrid Agreement, Serbia, in addition, took over to respect Kosovo's territorial integrity and not block its membership in international organisations.

On December 14th, Serbia's prime minister, Anna Brnabyq, delivered an official letter to the European Union headquarters, expressing reservations about obligations stemming from the agreement and annexing its implementation.

From the EU, meanwhile, warned that obligations made with this agreement would be included in Serbia's negotiating framework for EU membership.

Obligations coming out of this agreement will be, as well, part of Kosovo's road to the EU.

What does formalising the agreement mean in practice?

Muhramir tells Radio Free Europe that formalising the agreement, which mentioned Lajcak, in practice implies forming association in Kosovo and de facto recognition of Kosovo from Serbia.

According to him, Kosovo and Serbia will not be able to bypass these two issues.

Kosovo's “Gatibility to establish Association will depend on intensifying pressure from the United States and the European Union, as well as on the quality and extent of integration prospects and socio-political benefits for Kosovo citizens and state leadership. In a real context, the practical implementation of the Association Agreement will only begin when the perfect balance of all these very delicate and interconnected values is reached, Muhramiri says.

Janzic says that, currently, no one can talk about any formalisation of the agreement, because in Serbia it has just finished parliamentary elections and will now continue forming the new Parliament and Government.

This will not be possible. With Vucinqiqi, simply, he [Lajcak] can make himself aware of everything, but Vucinic cannot and has no power to impose anything. And, the procedure that must be respected, are changes to the framework of [Serbia's] negotiations with the European Union]”, says Janjic.

In early December, Vucic acknowledged that there is a possibility that the Ohrid Agreement will become part of negotiating chapter 35 with the EU and, therefore, condition for Serbia's EU accession.

Why is formalization necessary?

Although ten months went by from accepting the Ohrid Agreement, concrete results in its implementation do not exist.

Both Pristina and Belgrade denied responsibilities for failing to comply.

Muharhiri believes Kurti and Vuciq, after agreeing to the annex of implementation of the agreement, engaged in “the populist working section”.

The “they wanted to transform and re-diagnose the anecx according to their internal needs, and that upset the balance and the overall plan. Therefore, it is now necessary for all to return to formalising what has been agreed on in Ohrid”, Mujadir says.

According to Ynjiqi, both Pristina and Belgrade, simply, but “buy time” and neither side wants the agreement to be implemented.

This [officialisation] is not real because the elections for Parliament and European institutions are coming. I do not expect any dialogue [by the end of January]”, he says.

Relations between Kosovo and Serbia were further complicated after the attack on Banjska, in northern Kosovo.

On 24 September, armed groups of Serbs there attacked Kosovo police, killing police officer Africa Bulnjak.

Kosovo blamed Serbia for the attack, but it denied it.

Milan Radojic, former deputy chairman of the Serbian List in Kosovo, said he has organised the attack and that he has not notified anyone about it.

At the beginning of December, at the request of Kosovo, the International Police Organisation, INTERPOL, issued a warrant for Radojchicin. / REL