Bieber: The volcano went far in Ohrid, and it seemed to be under torture

Professor of the University of Graz in Austria and Balkan Affairs expert Florian Bieber said there should be no room for failure to implement what is agreed on in Ohrid. He said that the Serbian president during talks in Ohrid was becoming like “someone is torturing him, that he should admit it, is overex1>.

According to Bieber, <x0them has a problem with the Ohrid Agreement due to different interpretations of what has been agreed on”.

This is certainly the biggest problem. We have had different agreements between Belgrade and Pristina for 10 years where one side interprets that it is implementing what is needed, the other side questions”, Bieber told “N1“.

As he said, there should be no place to fail to comply.

The Agreement is inclusive, it's not a Swedish raffle where we can get what we like and reject what we don't like. The agreement does not work that way, everything has to be implemented, already in the statements of the president of Serbia it is not clear that Serbia realistically accepts both implementation and the” agreement, he says.

The only advantage of the signing, Bieber points out, is that it is easier to confirm what is agreed on.

This is a reminder of those who violate their words. The verbal agreement should also be stable, or at least there should be sufficient will on both sides to implement it. The continuation of the problems we have now had for 10 years we see in previous European agreements between Kosovo and Serbia, which one side does not accept what is agreed on, no one can interpret because there is nothing official on paper. If we continue with the previous process, I am afraid there will be the same problems, tensions and charges on both sides, that the agreement will not change anything radically in dynamics”.

The agreement, he says, could never be implemented in part.

This is impossible, it's not a choice where you say "5 out of 10 points," we don't like others, especially when it comes to a compromise that's hard to accept from both sides. There is no such thing, it's always possible, but that means the agreement is being violated, then the question is what are the purposes in general, especially on the part of the president, has there been any intention of fulfilling the promise, or such statements are just about local opinion, because he saw there's really criticism of this” agreement, he says.

As he says, Serbia's “s did not implement everything it needed”.

There will probably be a continuation of this. The EU must admit that the agreement was not like a “progress”, a major success as it is now presented,” he says.

Bieber says Vuciq became “as if he were under torture”

That someone is torturing him, that he has to admit, that's excessive. Serbia's sanctions are limited by the EU. It always counts on good will, in the good intentions of both sides, nothing can be imposed, but it can be conditioned”, he says.

He shows he is surprised by the EU's endless “patience”.

How can you tell them you agreed, and then in Serbia to say I refused? If we talk about normalising relations, it means not only formal application of steps but preparing society for normalisation of relations. Normal relations are not to accuse Kosovo as a false state, so-called, when it comes to prejudice against Albanians, it does not mean normalisation. We don't see a single step on Vucciki's side to change, but his media will change their attitude. To me the greatest miracle is the EU's infinite patience in this case”, Biber says.

He also referred to postaries before the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade.

The “The atmosphere in Serbia is tough, very bad for normalising relations, not only with Kosovo, but for internal democratic pluralistic dialogue. The current government is at fault for tension with Kosovo through its media. The question is where there is space in Serbia for those who are willing to accept reality. Kosovo has long been an independent state, it cannot be changed, there is no public space to speak openly and sincerely”, he says.

He believes the referendum would now be a failure.

Because we've been listening to Kosovo for 10 years and so-called words. It is very difficult to change public opinion towards something that is more realistic and willing to normalize relations. We need to talk more about normalising dialogue within society”, he says.