Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Not over yet: EU wary of further Kosovo-Serbia tensions as it pushes final deal

Not over yet: EU wary of further Kosovo-Serbia tensions as it pushes final deal

Negotiators have resolved a current threat of violence, but the EU says Kosovo and Serbia must reach a broader deal in 2023.

Repeated border roadblocks, shootings and attacks on journalists have imperiled months of EU-led negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia.

In the past week, a long-running dispute between the two countries once again reached a tipping point, with new barricades going up and Serbia moving its troops to high readiness after Kosovo deployed police to its northern, Serb-majority areas.

While Serbia announced late Wednesday that the fresh barriers would be taken down within 48 hours, the sources of friction remain — and doubts are growing that an EU-facilitated agreement between the two countries will get finalized before a tentative March 2023 deadline.

“I believe it has solved the problem, but tensions remain high. The level of mistrust is higher than ever before,” Miroslav Lajčák, the EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and Western Balkans issues, told POLITICO.

“What is really important now is to not allow the situation to backslide into another crisis, and it is important for the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia to start creating an atmosphere conducive to productive discussions on normalization of relations,” added Lajčák, who is working with the U.S. and NATO on the diplomatic efforts.

Lajčák insisted these efforts will not cease, saying the March deadline is meant to relay the seriousness of reaching a deal. The international community is feeling an increased urgency to resolve the issue given how Russia’s war is raging nearby and that the Kremlin has long sought to lure the Balkans away from the EU.

For now, however, an agreement appears far off.

“At the moment, it is difficult to imagine a positive outcome of the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina,” said Maja Bjeloš, a policy analyst at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy.

“Crises in Kosovo and violent responses to the political deadlock seem to have become normalized,” she added.


Crisis cycle


The latest flare-up began in early December when Kosovo sent police to the Serb-majority north following an announcement that elections would be held in the region to replace the Kosovo Serb officials, who resigned en masse in November.

In response, the Kosovo Serb community — which largely pledges loyalty to Belgrade — set up around 14 separate barricades and roadblocks. 

While formally a part of independent Kosovo, these northern regions have not completely integrated into the country, and Serbia still manages basic services there, such as healthcare and education. 

Trucks form a road barricade, set up by ethnic Serbs in the village of Rudare, Kosovo


Kosovo Serbs are now also refusing to participate in the new elections until their demands are met. These include the implementation of an EU-facilitated agreement that would give them increased power in the country.

Among Balkan countries, Kosovo and Serbia have the most strained relationship, with Belgrade refusing to acknowledge the 2008 declaration of independence of its former province.

The EU has been facilitating meetings between the two governments since 2011, attempting to foster agreements on outstanding issues — such as license plate registration, which ostensibly sparked a wave of tensions in July.

“This crisis is the most serious and intense so far because it undermines the essence of the dialogue, which is the integration of the Serb community into the legal and political system of Kosovo,” said Bjeloš. “The mistrust between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo has deepened as the result of the crisis.” 

Western leaders are hoping more engagement will change that, and bring both Serbia and Kosovo into the fold.

Yet Serbia continues to advocate for the derecognition of Kosovo’s independence. And although more than 100 United Nations members have recognized Kosovo, full recognition has yet to be achieved. Five EU members do not acknowledge it as an independent nation — putting a significant strain on Kosovo’s relationship with Brussels.

Also Russia has served as a significant barrier to Kosovo’s full international integration, blocking Kosovo-related resolutions at the U.N. Security Council.

Separately, Serbia has refused to join EU sanctions against Russia and only partially condemned its aggression against Ukraine.

All of this has turned EU and U.S. attempts to forge a deal between Kosovo and Serbia into a high-wire act.

“Both leaders are prepared to meet —the problem is the outcome,” said Lajčák, who has chaired most of the meetings between Kosovo and Serbia for the past years. “The last two meetings were OK in terms of atmosphere, but the visions of the two leaders did not overlap.”

“There are always high expectations from these meetings,” he added.

Lajčák stressed that this repetitive cycle of flare-ups followed by temporary solutions is forcing negotiators to engage in “firefighting, since you cannot focus on normalization when there is a crisis.”

So while the latest crisis “is now over as we speak,” he said, “I hope that in a week from now we will not be facing another crisis — or we can forget about normalization.”


Administrative powers at issue


The biggest hurdle between the two governments is Serbia’s insistence on implementing a 2013 agreement that would grant Kosovo Serb representatives the institutional power to manage certain aspects of life, such as the local economy and education, on their own. 

Kosovo is reluctant to adopt this new structure, claiming it would make the north even more susceptible to Serbian — or perhaps even Russian — influence.

Brussels has maintained that all previous agreements need to be implemented, and that Kosovo stands to benefit since it will increase government control over everyday affairs in the north.

Lajčák insisted that the current timing is ideal for a resolution of the Kosovo-Serbia issue and that if the moment is missed, the dispute could drag on for decades.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar and EU special envoy Miroslav Lajčák meet Serbian leaders in Mitrovica in August 2022


“Right now, we have a very favorable setup: We have the attention of the top leadership in the U.S. and the European Union, and we have exemplary EU-U.S. cooperation — so this is the real window of opportunity, sometime until December 2023 or early 2024,” he said.

European Parliament elections and a U.S. presidential election are both slated for a “super election year” in 2024.

“If things aren’t done by then, we will have to start again from scratch,” Lajčák warned. “If we go back to crisis and clashes, then we can forget about deadlines.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
×