„Ten years ago delegations from Belgrade and Pristina sat down for the first time to leave the past behind and to find ways forward for cooperation. The goal remains today: achieve progress on their respective European Union path, and improve the lives of the people.“ What do experts from the field say about this estimation of the EU, and do they agree with Miroslav Lajcak’s assessment that the agreements reached in the dialogue have made real changes for the citizens and the stability of the Western Balkans?
When we spoke to the citizens of North and South Mitrovica on Tuesday, they told us that there was no change, or that the changes were only minimal. While the citizens south of the Ibar accuse Serbia and call on Belgrade to give up on Kosovo, their neighbors from the north believe that Pristina should form the Association of Serb-majority municipalities and fulfill what was agreed. However, some revealed that they want to live as they „once did“ – together.
Now the experts, those who deal with the issue of dialogue in various fields and who live outside the Mitrovica region, reveal their opinion of this topic.
Rashiti: Positive changes among citizens, dialogue failed to create normalcy among governments
Naim Rashiti from the Balkan Group, however, observes positive changes in people’s lives, especially when it comes to relations between the north and south of Mitrovica.
„People communicate more freely, have better cooperation. Security for Serbs has increased,“ he told KoSSev.
Rashiti also noted that the understanding between Kosovo and Serbia is at a higher level, adding that the key achievement is that the citizens of both Kosovo and Serbia „do not follow the political narrative of one country about the other.“
„Trust in political stories on all sides is much lower and citizens do not fall as much into the trap of their provocative narratives,“ he points out.
Rashiti also recalled that the agreement on Telekom helped to improve communication between the two peoples in Kosovo, but also between Kosovo and Serbia.
According to him, this was also the case with other agreements, such as the one on IBM.
Rashiti explained that he is aware of the dialogue deadlock.
„Tensions between Belgrade and Pristina have prevented further benefits for the citizens of the two new agreements. The Brussels dialogue failed to create normalcy between the two governments, which was the key purpose of this dialogue. The delay in normalization prevented the success of the early dialogue and agreement,“ he emphasized.
Ahmetaj: Lack of transparency, no visible progress, difficult issues to be addressed sooner or later
The dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo continues, but without any concrete agreements so far, an expert on transitional justice from Pristina, Nora Ahmetaj said.
„I believe that no visible progress has been made in resolving the basic issues that will have to be resolved for the two countries to establish normal relations. In the next round of talks, I believe that the focus must be moved to the most controversial issues, and a controversial issue for me, since I deal with transitional justice, was and still is the issue of missing persons on both sides.“
She noted that the issue of the missing has so far been considered a „difficult“ but humanitarian issue, adding that sooner or later both sides will have to address it.
„In earlier rounds, talks on practical issues somehow served to prepare the ground for a final agreement. But now it seems that the dynamics has been reversed – neither side is really interested in continuing, especially the Kosovo side. Mr. Albin Kurti explicitly said that Kosovo currently has pressing matters over dialogue, such as the fight against corruption and employment, especially of young people. It seems to me that neither side sees that much can be gained from further technical talks,“ Ahmetaj stressed.
She added that the ten-year-long dialogue has been accompanied by a lack of transparency from the very start.
„And I blame the EU the most for it, and also the domestic actors. There is also a lack of consensus in the former Kosovo governments on dialogue,“ she said, adding:
„We will see if the new Kurti Government 2 will suffer pressure from the EU and the USA to continue the dialogue.“
Dimitrijevic: The citizens saw no good from the dialogue
„Only the names of the negotiators changed, everything else is essentially the same,“ the editor of Radio Gorazdevac, Darko Dimitrijevic from Gorazdevac – the largest village inhabited by Serbs in Metohija, underlined.
Even what was agreed in Brussels is not being implemented, such as the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, Dimitrijevic alleged, adding that the unformed organization „was certainly no guarantor of the rights of the Serb community.“
„Ordinary citizens saw no good from the dialogue so far, the Serb community has remained discriminated against as was the case before the dialogue. By that, I mean their basic human rights,“ Dimitrijevic emphasized, listing those rights:
„The system does not allow displaced persons the right to possess Kosovo documents, as well as property rights, the right to work, and language. Freedom of movement was and remains a problem even after the agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. Serbs from Kosovo with Serbian documents are discriminated against, these documents do not guarantee them any rights when it comes to movement. The passport of the coordination administration is worthless. Those who have Kosovo license plates must remove them, and that was the case even before the beginning of the dialogue.“
On the other hand, the example of vaccination against coronavirus speaks about the state of health care, this journalist added.
„Every car trunk is checked in Jarinje by the KP so that no vaccine against coronavirus enters Kosovo by accident.“
„Both nations only lost in the process of this dialogue, the Serbs lost a bit more because they shut down all those institutions that connected them with Serbia in the north of Kosovo,“ he added, alleging that the responsibility for that lies on:
„Both Belgrade and Pristina, mostly the international community and the EU, because for the sake of political goals and ambitions, they neglected the implementation of the law and the ordinary disenfranchised man.“
Maksimovic: Get out of the „zero sum game“ ASAP, we are in the same boat which is filling with water
The executive director of the NGO „Center for Peace and Tolerance“, Nenad Maksimovic, also shared a critical review of the Brussels dialogue. He made a distinction between rhetoric and the intention of dialogue.
„Despite the accompanying rhetoric, the basic intention of the Brussels agreement was not to make life easier for the people of Kosovo, as well as the rest of Serbia, but to disband the institutions of the Republic of Serbia and integrate them into the Kosovo political system,“ he stressed.
Therefore, the needs of citizens as well as solving essential problems were not a priority, he added.
He also criticized the fact that the language of diplomacy could explain that the dialogue was conducted exclusively at the highest political level, but without the involvement of wider strata of citizens’ representatives.
„Therefore, the needs of the citizens have been pushed aside on the political agenda of the dialogue. The Kosovo Serbs, as an interested party in the dialogue, did not have a representative, both in the Serb negotiating team and the Kosovo team, therefore, unresolved issues remain open.“
According to Maksimovic, travel documents, property, equality in institutions are some of these still open issues.
„Bearing in mind the obvious impossibility of reaching a political agreement, the dialogue should continue on other issues, but with the inclusion of a wider range of actors from social life,“ he said.
In his words, it is especially important to get out of the so-called „zero sum game“.
„In which the gain of one side is automatically a loss for the other. The sooner the wider strata accept the fact that both Kosovo and central Serbia are in the same boat which is rapidly filling with water, and that only through regional cooperation in the fight against widespread corruption, youth outflows, poisoned public space, will we get out of this vicious circle of demagogic victories over others.“
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
