Steinbaum: Kosovo government's creation of association conflicts with constitution

In an interview for the Voice of America, one of the authors of the report, Jason Steinbaum, who in the past was the adviser to the Commission for Foreign Relations of the Chamber, Eliot Engel, told colleague Garentina Kraja that the Association process, which is the main issue that has caused the biggest clashes between the United States and Kosovo, has been politicised and that the constitutional way through which municipalities can create association themselves, is the way out of the dead.

Voice of America: Mr. Steinbaum, in your new report drafted together with Professor Paul Williams, concluded that the demand to create the Association of Serb-run municipalities in Kosovo is contrary to the constitution and that it must not be made. However, creating association is a central issue in the United States and the EU's efforts to normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia? Why do you think they're wrong?

Jason Steinbaum: Our report outlines the process which the Constitution of Kosovo and the Constitution of Kosovo present a process under which only municipalities have the authority to create associations. So if they want one, according to the analysis we've done to the Constitution of Kosovo, then let them create it. They can create association at any moment they want, regardless of what the international community says, the Kosovo state authorities or the government of Serbia, or regardless of dialogue. They have the authority to do so now, according to the Kosovo constitution.

One important point of our report is that municipalities have the competencies for creating association. But in order for municipalities to make this move, they must have elected officials, and that means that the local Serb community should participate with candidates in the election. They have boycotted the elections, mainly encouraged by Belgrade in recent years. But I hope that in the future they will decide to run in elections for these local government positions. And if they want to establish association then through these elected democratic elections, then they will have the competencies and officials to do so. It would be a double victory for the community, Kosovo, for the international community, because they would gain their association, but also their elected officials, who we all want to see run in elections and take office in their posts.

Voice of America: However, what you refer to as the <x0 constitutional path” is bypassed by the European Union and the United States. Why do you think that happened?

Jason Steinbaum: I think they're all people of goodwill. I think they want to help a community establish an association that they said they love and that's not bad. These people want good for Kosovo and for the people living in these cities in the northern part. But I think it's probably more appropriate for the United States to adhere to the rule of law, to follow the Constitution, which, to be honest, helped to be drafted. We participated in drafting that constitution. So maybe it's time to go back and review it and ask ourselves, what's going well in this process, what hasn't worked out well, and how can we help this community find solutions like Constitution?

Voice of America: You estimate that perhaps the process has been politicised?

Jason Steinbaum: The constitution envisions a process under which municipalities make the decision to establish association, or to join them, as has already occurred with the establishment of regular association of municipalities, which have established municipalities themselves. But, making demands on the state authorities in Kosovo, in some form this makes it part of the political process. In fact, over ten years have passed and Kosovo governments, led by four political parties, have not. Honestly, maybe it's time to take a step back and see what the law says and maybe there's a way to act by removing the pressure, de-politicizing it and softening its emphasis.

Voice of America: Some governments in Kosovo, including the current government, have agreed to create association. Do you blame the government for withdrawing from an issue it was previously hired for?

Jason Steinbaum: It is not their primary competence, based on the Constitution. Kosovo confirmed it would be under the 2013 agreement. In that agreement, which was ratified by the assembly, the government said there would be an association of Serb majority municipalities. They didn't. And if they had done so, they would have transgressed the Constitution, but they were wont to express their will, and it is all right. That agreement also said it would be established and that its statute would be written in the same way as the usual association of municipalities, which create municipalities themselves. I don't think the government actually has the powers to do that. I understand argument and criticism, but I think there's a better way to do this, to turn around and see the Constitution.

Voice of America: However, this issue of association has become one of the main disputes between Kosovo and the United States, though not the only one. This relationship, according to many observers, is at its lowest point. Do you share that appreciation? What is your view?

Jason Steinbaum: I think the interests of the United States and Kosovo match in the long term. Our peoples are close and the values of our two countries are almost the same. There are differences between governments, and this is not the issue we address in our report. I know there are some disagreements that have been roughed up, but they're not the subject of our report. We see an exit, a road, a constitutional process to resolve one of the most difficult issues the parties have disagreements about.

Voice of America: And which you think is the way out, not only in association, but also in the process of dialogue in general. What is your advice to the mediators engaged in this process? The American government has just named a new mediator. You've been engaged to the region for a long time...

Jason Steinbaum: I think we are currently at a moment when the international community, the United States and the European Union can wait a little. There are elections in the United States, there will be elections in Kosovo. The replacement of several key officials, including our envoy, as well as the EU ambassador to Kosovo, is under way, and I find Mr. Lajcak himself. There will be changes of individuals. Young people can sometimes bring new ideas and approaches, and maybe that's even a way to take a break. And then with the coming of new governments and new people, we can look at this issue from the new perspective and try to see what is happening from the constitutional point of view.

Voice of America: A continuing process of dialogue has been made for over a decade to reach a kind of negotiated agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. Do you think there really is a desire to reach a negotiated agreement?

Jason Steinbaum: I'm not sure. I think both sides are in a pretty big mess. I don't see the interest of the government of Serbia, I'm not sure they see an agreement in their interest as being reached. They say they oppose a sovereign Kosovo, and reaching an agreement does not seem to be in their interest. From the point of view of Kosovo, they want an agreement now and recognition, and that does not seem likely to happen in the near future. Dialogue is always good. Finding solutions to functional problems between countries is good, so I hope it will continue. I hope that it will not focus too much on areas that are completely within Kosovo's sovereign territory and are part of its sovereign decision-making authority.

Voice of America: How realistic is it to expect Serb participation in the elections given the current situation, whether current tensions or incidents last year, including the armed attack on Banjska? So Belgrade moves them to participate?

Jason Steinbaum: I don't know the answer to that question. I think it could happen with a greater incentive of the international community, if they say your future is in your hands instead of putting it in the hands of dialogue, or in particular the government in Belgrade, because they do not rule there, or the government in Pristina.

Ahtisaari's process predicted a local control and competencies for municipalities and I think that as this process developed and how it turned into a constitutional approach, maybe we find a new way to solve this, or find a new way to move forward that will ease the emphasis on (Association), depoliticise it and remove the tensions that surround it. O