The measures which Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has recently proposed as a way to return to the status quo ante in Kosovo are mostly “wishful thinking”, but the implementation of the proposal related to the return of Serbs to the Kosovo judiciary and police could be a step towards normalising relations between Belgrade and Pristina, our interlocutors assess. They stress that the decision of Kosovo Serbs to boycott the institutions of Pristina, which was made in the fall of 2022, caused great damage to the Serbian community.
In his recent address to the public, Vučić presented Serbia’s actions in response to the latest crisis in northern Kosovo, the first among which was a return to the status quo ante, that is, “everything that has been achieved during the dialogue process”. This includes, among other things, the calling of local elections in northern Kosovo, the return of Serbs to the police and judiciary, as well as the withdrawal of special police forces from northern Kosovo.
“First of all, calling and holding free and democratic local elections in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, with the participation of the OSCE mission and under the control of the EU. Secondly, the implementation of Article 9 of the First Brussels Agreement through the collective return of Serbs to the Regional Directorate of Kosovo Police North. Point three, the return of Serbian judges and prosecutors to judicial offices. Then, number four, the withdrawal of the so-called Kosovo police special forces from illegally built bases and checkpoints in northern Kosovo and Metohija, as well as their withdrawal from all institutions, which from 1999 until the illegitimate closure in 2024 have provided vital public and administrative services to citizens”, President of Serbia said.
As “point five”, Vučić cited the “urgent, immediate and final” formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities, “without further political ideas and tricks”.
The European Commission Spokesman Peter Stano welcomed the parts of Vučić’s address regarding the return of Serbs to the institutions of Pristina.
“We welcome the readiness expressed by President Vučić to continue to participate in the EU-led Dialogue. We positively see the call for the participation of Kosovo Serbs in the elections in Kosovo and the reintegration of Kosovo Serbs into all Kosovo institutions that they left in 2022”, Stano said for Radio Free Europe.
The latest round of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on the technical level was held on 17 September. Delegations led by Petar Petković and Besnik Bislimi met separately with the EU High Representative for the Dialogue Miroslav Lajčák and members of his team. Petković said that at the meeting with Lajčák he presented the measures put forward by President Vučič, which include reviving the dialogue and protecting Serbs in Kosovo.
“We all need dialogue. The meeting with the Pristina delegation did not take place, because Bislimi refused to do so. They do not want to discuss the topics that we have proposed, which is primarily the issue of the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities. We are always ready for talks with the delegation of Pristina, we are ready to talk about the topics they propose, and we would have something to say”, Petković said.
Tensions once again rose in northern Kosovo in late August, after the operation by the Kosovo Police which resulted in the closure of the remaining Serbian institutions including municipal services, pension fund, the building of the provisional municipal authority of Kosovska Mitrovica.…
Miodrag Marinković: Five points are a form without substance
Commenting on Vučić’s demands to Pristina, Miodrag Marinković, an Executive Director of the NGO Center for Affirmative Social Actions, states for EWB that the first impression is “inconsistency in the narratives coming from Belgrade and the constant need to spin the truth for the sake of preserving the political rating”.
“For example, in justifying the acceptance of the Ohrid Agreement, President Vučić has repeatedly said that the status quo, i.e. the ‘frozen conflict’ is an unsustainable solution, and today this ‘unsustainable solution’ seems like an unattainable ideal. It was the same with the motto ‘No surrender – the car plates remain’, and so on. For years, populist narratives have concealed the essence of the solutions which had been achieved and unrealistically built the expectations of Serbs in Kosovo. In doing so, Kosovo Serbs have been misled and unprepared for what awaits them. The same feeling prevails when you look at these five points, a form without essence”, Miodrag Marinković claims.
Our interlocutor points out that even though Vučić’s demands “target” the basic problems facing the Serbian community in Kosovo, they are formulated as a political position, without the basic elements of a political platform and a plan for implementation.
“The effects of this position without a realistic plan to achieve them are limited. Such a response is not a new one, and perhaps the only thing that can mean some progress from the current, very difficult position in which the Kosovo Serbs are, is the announcement of the return of Serbian judges and prosecutors to the judicial system of Kosovo. If this is seen as an announcement of the end of the boycott policy, which has caused a lot of damage to the Serb community in Kosovo, then we can expect them to go to the elections, return to local administrations, and, in some further perspective, return to Kosovo’s police force. This can have a good effect on the ability of the Serb community to cope with staying in Kosovo”, Marinković remarks.
Franz-Lothar Altman: Serbs should return to Kosovo’s judiciary and police and local elections in the North should happen
Franz-Lothar Altmann, Professor of International Relations at the University of Bucharest, agrees that it is necessary for Serbs to return to Kosovo’s institutions and for local elections to be organised in northern Kosovo.
“Of course, local elections in the North should happen, and the Serbian population must really participate and not boycott them like last time! Also, I would endorse accepting Serb people in the police and also in the judiciary, and I expect that in principle Pristina will accept it to a certain degree, proportional to the number of the local population”, Franz-Lothar Altmann says for EWB.
However, Altmann notes that, when it comes to the special police forces from Pristina in the North, “a retreat can only happen if the local police, mixed of Serbs and Albanians, can ensure security and rule of law for both, the Albanian minority in the north as well as the Serb majority”.
“In addition, an effective cooperation with KFOR is needed. Only then Pristina can and will call back the special police forces”, he concludes.
”Area of special social protection”
Vučić also announced that Serbia would declare Kosovo an “area of special social protection” so that it could increase financial support to Serbs living there. As he pointed out, “immediately” we will allocate 20,000 dinars per month for about 5,000 people who lost their jobs when Pristina closed the institutions that functioned according to the system of Serbia.
Commenting on this announcement by the President of Serbia, Miodrag Marinković says that “in general, Serbia’s response to unilateral moves from Pristina is limited and inappropriate”.
“Fundamentally, the problem of a political nature is solved by social measures, and these measures are inadequate. I do not think that 20,000 dinars of monthly income will be the motive of young unemployed people to stay in Kosovo. A much bigger incentive would be to deal with endemic corruption and nepotism in the Kosovo Serb government system, established under the control of Belgrade because this has been the main reason for the departure of young people from Kosovo for a decade and more,” Marinković stresses.