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Some options for overcoming the Kosovo-Serbia crisis

2022-08-26 08:00:51Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Some options for overcoming the Kosovo-Serbia crisis
Albin Kurti and Aleksandër Vucic

In the last round of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in Brussels, on August 18, one of the options for overcoming the tensions between the two countries was to postpone the implementation of the decision of the Government of Kosovo on license plates and travel documents for a period of two to three months.

This is what European diplomatic sources say for Radio Free Europe, according to which, such a postponement would be necessary to give time to the Serbs in Kosovo to prepare, while those who do not have relevant documents from Kosovo, to be equipped with such.

The Government of Kosovo, on September 1, is expected to start the implementation of the decision on the re-registration of vehicles with Serbian license plates in RKS - Republic of Kosovo - and on the issuance of entry/exit documents for Serbian citizens.

This decision, expected to be implemented on August 1, has been postponed for 30 days, due to the tensions it has caused in the north of Kosovo, including the setting up of barricades by some local Serbs.

The request that the issuance of entry documents by Kosovo does not apply to Kosovo Serbs has been publicly confirmed by the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. According to EU sources, the Kosovar side in the dialogue has said that no citizen of Kosovo, regardless of ethnicity, needs an additional entry/exit document.

However, there are disagreements about how to prove that someone is a citizen of Kosovo, if they do not have an identification document issued by the authorities in Kosovo. Serbs in the north are mainly equipped with documents issued by Serbia.

On the other hand, Serbia, for years, issues special documents for citizens of Kosovo when they enter its territory.

Although admitting that the option for both sides to forgo issuing special entry/exit letters is unlikely to happen, EU sources consider it "desirable".

Another option is for Kosovo, unilaterally, to postpone the implementation of the decision even after September 1.

Sources in the EU say that work in search of a solution is continuing intensively.

This is proven by the meetings that the US special envoy for the Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, and the EU special envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajçak, are holding in Kosovo and Serbia these days.

If the meetings of senior diplomats will produce any results, then the possibility is mentioned that next week in Brussels there will be a new meeting within the framework of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, either at a high level, or even at the level of the chief negotiators.

"It is good that both leaders, both Vucic and Kurti, have said that they are ready to come to the meeting", says an EU source.

Although they say that there are many issues that need to be discussed and resolved through dialogue, EU officials consider that "priority number 1 at this moment is to avoid the escalation of the situation in the north of Kosovo".

"Over time, the impression is growing that the escalation of the situation will be avoided. The parties have understood the seriousness of this situation and NATO has also clearly said that it will not tolerate the blocking of roads, as well as obstacles to freedom of movement", says a Western official in Brussels.

According to him, this message was conveyed to the dialogue parties, the prime minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, when they met last week with the general secretary of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.

In Brussels, they do not question the right of Kosovo, according to the 2011 and 2016 agreements with Serbia, to implement reciprocity measures with this country, but they ask that the situation on the ground be taken into account and that more time be given to avoid misunderstandings.

According to the decision of the Government of Kosovo, the replacement of license plates will start on September 1 and there will be a transitional period of two months, during which the license plates can be changed.

What is said in Pristina?

Prime Minister Kurti reiterated on Wednesday that he will adhere to the decision on license plates and documents.

According to REL sources in Pristina, Kurti is determined that the implementation of the decision will not be postponed.

 

 

The chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, says that in the meeting of representatives of this party with Escobar and Lajcak, the latter demanded that Kosovo be rational in finding a solution.

"What I have understood is that Kosovo is being asked to be rational in the implementation of the decision... To create a time process of several days or weeks, so that everyone is equipped with identity cards and plates - something that sounds rational ", says Haradinaj about REL.

“[An eventual postponement of the implementation of the decision] could open many dilemmas. I think that the way out of this situation is exactly what our allies are also thinking... to find an implementation process... to start as a process, not to be an act, a single day, but to be a process. If this is found, I believe that Kosovo wins, because our sovereignty and legality apply [also] in the north", adds Haradinaj.
Memli Krasniqi, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, who also met the Western diplomats, said that the escalation of the situation in the north should be avoided.

"In the dialogue process [with Serbia], we have given the necessary space to the Prime Minister and the Government to carry out their duties in defense of the country's interests, considering that this process is indispensable for achieving peace and ending the frozen conflict between Kosovo and Serbia. We have never seen the dialogue with Serbia as an internal political battle", wrote Krasniqi on social networks, without giving more details of the meeting with Escobar and Lajcak.

In Belgrade...

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said that Serbia is seriously treating finding a solution "to the current crisis caused by the unilateral movements of Pristina".

He made these comments after a meeting with the American ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, on August 23.

According to the communique issued by the Serbian Presidency, Vucic "explained to Ambassador Hill the positions of Serbia that he represents in the dialogue with Pristina" and added that he is participating in the dialogue with Pristina "responsibly and constructively".

Sources in Brussels say that the US Department of State, from the highest level, including the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has insisted that a solution to avoid tensions in Kosovo be sought until the end./REL


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