Kurti-Vucciq meeting “in May or June”, Petritsch: Blocking dialogue with more lasting “” for Kosovo than Serbia

Thirteen years to implement an agreement with 15 points for normalising relations did not suffice, even though reconciliation and co-operation were expected.

Former Austrian diplomat Wolfgang Petritsch warns that Kosovo risks the status quo and needs to act, as fragile states are more exposed to crises.

In 2013, while Europe saw enlargement and stability, Kosovo and Serbia signed the first agreement on normalisation of relations in Brussels. After years of post-war tensions and pain, neighbors seemed ready for a new chapter that was unusual for the region's history.

The Brussels Agreement was signed 19 April that year by then prime ministers of both countries Hashim Thaci and Ivica Dacic. It followed months of intensive negotiations, mediated by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

I want to congratulate you on the determination of these months and the courage they have shown. It is very important that what we are now seeing is a step away from the past and for both countries, a step closer to Europe”, Ashton said at the time.

Pretty promising for two countries that membership in the European Union is strategically aimed at at at least in question. This was also clearly reflected by both prime ministers with Thaci, who stressed the potential of the agreement.

This agreement today represents the beginning of a new era of reconciliation and interstate co-operation. This agreement will help us heal the serious wounds of the past, if we have the wisdom and wisdom to apply it in practice”, Thaci said at the time.

Beyond the hope created now of 13 years, developments on the ground show that much of that wisdom and wisdom remain to be witnessed.

Even though leaders in Kosovo, Serbia and the European Union have changed over the years, progress at the key point of the agreement has remained limited to establishing the Association of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo.

This, since the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has found disagreement with the Constitution in some principles. Although it has left room for harmonisation, there have been continued reservations in Pristina because, as it has been said, the possible impact of association on the functioning of the state, while Brussels and Belgrade have insisted on its establishment.

In the end, despite dozens of meetings, a European draft status and a new agreement after ten years, the process has remained in the stalemate.

Serbia has been facing anti-government protests for more than a year, while Kosovo has political divisions, which for months have left it without a functional coalition and with Government in office. Such a meeting between the leaders of the two countries, Albin Kurti in Kosovo and Aleksandar Vucinqi in Serbia, has not been held since September 2023.

From the point of view of the former Austrian diplomat, Wolfgang Petritsch, this impasse of the Brussels process carries more immediate consequences for Kosovo than for Serbia.

Speaking of the Expose Radio Free Europe Programme, he estimates that Kosovo pays the price in security, stability and its orientation towards the future, while its policies remain largely domestic and not sufficiently adapted to the wider European and geopolitical context.

Every time I'm in Pristina or I talk to people there, I get the impression that only Kosovo exists and nothing else. This is a completely wrong approach. Mr. Kurti has visible qualities, but if he doesn't realize he has to act as part of a team both inside the country and in the European arena, things won't go well for the development of Kosovo”, Petritsch says.

Free Radio Europe asked the Government of Kosovo whether it is open to a new phase of dialogue with Serbia and how it plans to avoid the impasse, but did not get answers.

During the presentation of the new cabinet government last month, Kurti said his government would pursue normalisation of relations with Serbia through a constructive and creative dialogue.

“As we have been operating in the past four years, normalisation is a matter of regulating relations between two states -- that is, as a bilatheral and external report, not interference or involvement in internal issues”, Kurti said on February 11th.

At the UN Security Council, US representative said this week that President Donald Trump expects clear commitment from Kosovo and Serbia to work together, reduce tensions and return to a real dialogue, not just declaration. According to Tammy Bruce, the US will work closely only with leaders who were looking from the future, not the past”.

For Petritsch, the first step must come from Pristina, which should offer Serbs concrete cultural, linguistic and administrative responsibilities under the Brussels Agreement. That would signal, according to him, a new co-operative approach and would create the possibility for a real relationship with Serbian representatives. Even if Serbia opposed it, it would emerge as blocking the process.

Petritsch notes that guarantees from Brussels are essential in this direction.

The “has been clear from the beginning that Europeans will not allow the creation of another Republika Srpska. We have paid a high price for it in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we do not want it to be repeated in Kosovo. So, obviously, it's about cultural, linguistic and administrative issues that need to be solved”, says Petritsch.

Radio Free Europe asked the European Union whether there is effort for a new phase of dialogue, but received no answers. This week, but also last month, EU special envoy for Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Peter Sorensen paid several visits to Kosovo and Serbia, where he stressed the importance of moving the process forward.

In March, he was also received by US State Department officials in Washington, with whom he said he has secured harmonisation for future steps in dialogue, but did not provide more details.

Richard Jozwiak, editor for European Affairs of Free Radio Europe, says the EU is making active efforts for a new meeting between Kurti and Vuciqi, which is expected to be held at the end of spring, but its exact date and implementation will depend on developments on the ground.

There has never been more optimism about a meeting between the two leaders since Kaya Kallas took office as EU foreign policy chief. This is considered the best opportunity in nearly a year and a half for such a meeting to take place. When exactly, it is unknown, but expectations are about May or June”, says Jozwaak for Exopasse.

However, he is pessimistic about any substantial progress or progress towards EU membership in a near future, because, as he says, leaders in Pristina and Belgrade benefit from domestic politics by taking a harsher stance towards Brussels, and they do not expect concrete benefits from the EU during their political careers.

The integration process requires time. We see how long it has taken for Montenegro, which has no bilateral problems like these two countries. We see how blocked Northern Macedonia is. We see how stuck Bosnia is. Therefore, the EU promise, which was very strong in 2013 and even from 2011 when negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia began, has ceased to bear that burden. How many countries have joined the EU since 2011? Only Croatia, which was on its way to membership”, recalls Jozwiak.

He warns that this status quo between Kosovo and Serbia is dangerous, but adds that Europe has become indifferent to this danger, while leaders in Pristina and Belgrade have learned to live with it and even benefit from it.

The same concern divides Petritsch, but it underlines the importance of Kosovo acting with urgency.

In an increasingly unstable world, the smaller and politically fragile states are the first “to fall” when the crisis erupts, he says.

With uncertainty about NATO's role and the future of American engagement, Petritsch warns that Kosovo “cannot allow status quo”.

According to him, progress in implementing the Brussels Agreement is not just a technical detail, but an essential condition for stabilising the very existence of the Republic of Kosovo.

Kosovo in 1999 was the only country in history to be freed from an alliance that took up arms. And that, in my opinion, places a special responsibility on her: to act prudently, to co-operate, to do what is necessary and to go a step further, to become part of the European states' family”, says Petritsch.

Kosovo, which is not recognised by five European Union countries yet, is the only country in the Western Balkan region that does not have membership candidate status in this bloc.

Serbia, which was recently considered a leader in the accession process in Brussels, has not opened a chapter of negotiations since 2021, due to its refusal to adapt to EU foreign policy.

According to Jozwiak, the entire Western Balkans now occupy a low country in the EU agenda is important, but obviously in the shadows of the wars in Ukraine and Iran... until any serious crisis provokes attention. /Radio Free Europe