Joseph: Ohrid Agreement Has Unappreciated Details

He made these comments in Pristina during a debate with the Kosovo-Serbia Agreement, with the mediation of the European Union and the United States, and what could make it function”, organised by the Kifred institute and the university “Johns Hopkins”.

Mr. Joseph counted, as said two vagueities challenging the implementation of the agreement reached in Ohrid.

“The inequity of the agreement itself, the fact that gaps have been left, which are elements that have not been specified, uncontested details that raised questions and under two, of course it is the status of the agreement, the fact that it was not signed, and in context that we hear a negative level of a newly reached agreement, which of course is not encouraging”, he said underlining that the credibility of the United States and the European Union will now be measured accordingly as two powers that have invested in reaching the agreement.

The context we have here is that we have informal investment from the United States and the European Union in this effort. The credibility of the United States and the European Union is in question, not only of Kosovo and Serbia that have been tested with this agreement, and we have formal obligations in the agreement itself accepted by the European Union. This is the context we face, there is no one here who has any illusion that this agreement will be easy and smooth”, he said.

The director of the Kypred Institute, Lulzim Peci, said Kosovo and Serbia are facing pressure from the international factor to implement the agreement as soon as possible. He said the United States and the European Union have also jeopardised their credibility in this peace effort.

My concern is that there is an agreement, but political disinheritation, hostile political discour has not changed, and if this political discurs do not change, I fear that even after implementing the agreement will result in a bitter atmosphere and may increase distrust among all parties involved”, Mr. Peci said.

Tatjana Lazarevic from Portal Kossev said this agreement is already binding and neither side can leave the implementation process. She said she expects the reconciliation process to last long.

I personally expect that it will take another decade for this new phase to complete the process of confirming that Serbia de jure and de facto has accepted partitioning Kosovo as an independent state”, she said.

On March 18th in Ohrid, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti agreed to implement a Western-backed plan for normalising relations, which is a condition for meeting their aspirations for membership in the European Union.

The agreement supported by the United States also requires good neighbourly relations, recognition of documents and symbols, and respect for each other's sovereignty and earthly integrity. It requires that the parties not stumble each other into integration processes, but does not require mutual recognition.

European Union officials have said that Kosovo and Serbia should overall implement the agreement reached in Ohrid for normalising relations between them and any refusal to do so will have negative consequences.

Earlier this month, the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia agreed on the text of the declaration on missing persons during the war, as well as discussed steps towards establishing association and implementing other agreements reached in previous talks in Brussels. This meeting has paved the way for the organisation of a political summit between Kosovo and Serbia to advance the process of implementing the agreement. /Vosa