Miftaraj for the problems of Article 7 agreement: Self-inconnection with Orthodox Church Association and Status

On Monday, February 27th, Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the European plan, which was not signed, even though Prime Minister Kurti said he was willing to do it but that the Serb side did not.

And as problematic as Article 7 of the European plan, which was published by the European Union.

The two sides commit to creating specific agreements and guarantees, in line with relevant instruments of the Council of Europe and based on existing European experiences, to ensure a proper level of self-management for the Serb community in Kosovo and the capacity to provide services in specific areas, including access to financial support from Serbia and a direct channel of communication for the Serb community with the Government of Kosovo.

The sides will formalise the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and offer strong level of protection for Serbian religious and cultural heritage sites, in line with existing European models”, the article says.

In this regard, Kosovo Institute for Justice Executive Director Ehat Miftaraj has told the newspaper Blic.

He says this article speaks of the commitment of both sides to the Serb community's local self-government in Kosovo and the establishment of the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo.

“Nani 7 of the agreement agreed on in principle in Brussels stipulates the commitment of the two sides in the concrete case of Kosovo and Serbia to engage together in terms of internal issues of the Republic of Kosovo in areas related to the Serb community's local self-government in Kosovo and the establishment of the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. While the first part of this article speaks of ensuring an adequate level of the Serb community's own management in Kosovo in accordance with the Council of Europe instruments, including the possibility of Serbia's financial support for local Serbs in Kosovo and the construction of a direct channel of communication of this community with the Kosovo government”, Miftaraj points out.

According to him, the language used in this article is characteristic and it is hard to understand whether the management itself connects with the current competencies that have majority Serb municipalities in Kosovo or ties with association.

This article's “characteristic is used two-way language, and it is hard to understand whether management itself is related to the actual competencies that have majority Serb municipalities in Kosovo or are related to association. If Article 7 and Article 10 are read out as separate to regulate two different areas, then this section of Article 7 would have to imply guarantees that the Republic of Kosovo can offer to preserve and ensure rights which, except they enjoy Serb majority municipalities as entities and to ensure that these rights are implemented in practice through more direct communication with the government of the Republic of Kosovo. It means this article should not be read or implied that it relates to the association of Serb majority municipalities, which the obligation comes from Article 10 of the agreement along with 32 other agreements which are required to be implemented by Kosovo and Serbia”, estimates Ehat Miftaraj for Blic newspaper.

While, he explains that the second part of this article relates to new access and additional obligations Serbs from Kosovo should take in terms of the status of the Serbian church.

He also mentions the case of the Serbian Church in Montenegro but says that, by contrast, in Kosovo there are only 4 per cent Orthodox and that Kosovo is obliged to equalise all religious beliefs in Kosovo.

“While the second half of Article 7 is linked to a new approach and receiving additional obligations from the Republic of Kosovo concerning the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church and a high level of protection of Serbian cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo. If the last case in Montenegro is taken into reference, where Prime Minister Abazovic and his government offered the special status of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro, this status was included in two plains in that of offering extraterritority to the Serbian Church and the legal status of the church in certain cases the same as constitutional institutions. The difference between Kosovo and Montenegro is great, since in Montenegro, the Serb population is approximately 30%, while in Kosovo neither 4% nor the other fact that in Kosovo, according to the Constitution and Law, Kosovo is obliged to equally address all religious beliefs in Kosovo, and the special treatment of the Orthodox Church can have a negative impact on the Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, etc. ”, Miftaraj claims.