Toby Vogel: Without de facto recognition of the Republic of Kosovo by Serbia, association makes no sense

Toby Vogel, associate of the Council for Democratic Policy in Brussels, considers that during this year there will be no visible progress in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

Vogel estimates it is happening because of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq, assisted by the European Union.

His Western allies let him leave the “the attempt to reconcile”, which then refused to sign what has been achieved so far between the two sides. He has violated the “Agreement on Brussels””.

Little stresses that the Serbian government has already officially stated in writing that it will never do anything that can be interpreted as de facto recognition, so it is clear that the “agreement” of Vucisic is meaningless.

As for the Association, he says that without de facto recognition, Kosovo should not accept the current draft state, as it adds that association in this way makes no sense.

My personal view, although it is not up to me to tell Kosovo what to do, Pristina should not accept the current draft status, for two reasons. First, the statute itself is problematic, for example by creating direct sources of funding from Belgrade to Association, municipal authorities, bypassing Pristina, formalise the current system. Second, and more broadly, regardless of the substance of the statute, the Association agreed in the context of a final, comprehensive and legally binding normalisation agreement. More than a decade after Brussels' agreement, such a normalisation agreement seems more elusive than ever, the Serbian government has declared formally and in writing, that it would never accept elements that would necessarily be part of a final agreement -- those elements that imply actual recognition. Outside the framework leading to comprehensive normalisation without de facto recognition of the Republic of Kosovo from Serbia, association makes no sense. By saying this, I think Prime Minister Kurti can work harder to show Kosovo Serbs that their future lies in a democratic, multiethnic Kosovo, not only in rhetoric, but in real life”, Vogel has said in an interview for Telegrafi.