Ten years have passed since the Belgrade and Pristina representatives sat down in Brussels for the very first time.
“The dialogue brought about important agreements. They made a real difference for people in both Kosovo and Serbia, for the stability of the Western Balkans, and for the European aspirations of an entire region,” the EU envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak tweeted last night.
The citizens of North and South Mitrovica, however, do not share Lajcak’s opinion.
10 years after the Parties sat down in Brussels for the first time, the Dialogue brought about important agreements. They made a real difference for people in both Kosovo and Serbia, for the stability of the Western Balkans, and for the European aspirations of an entire region. pic.twitter.com/eVMvTgdolg
— Miroslav Lajčák (@MiroslavLajcak) March 8, 2021
According to them, there have been either no changes or only minimal ones. Some citizens reveal that their „blood pressure rises“ whenever they hear the remark that life in these parts has improved.
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.
Some citizens, however, simply want to live as they used to, with the message that – „smart people want to find friends, while others desire enmity“.
„We did not feel any changes. We have something to eat and drink. We have nothing else. It would be best if they agree to start living the way we used to, but that will never happen.“
„See what it is like, Pristina is pulling on the one side, they are pulling on the other, there is no agreement, bro, God forbid. We – the people as the people, would like to reach an agreement and for that to end once and for all.“
„Nothing, nothing. We see that they have allegedly separated. Serbs on one side, Albanians on the other, Turks there. Once upon a time in Mitrovica, no one used to say – ‘This is a Serb, this is a Turk, this is an Albanian’, we were all the same, and now – God forbid.”
„Very little has changed because they (cf. Serbs) have only their goals and do not miss on anything. It (cf. Serbia) must know that Kosovo is independent and that there is no way back. We are constantly moving forward. Politics among them is a century behind its time. However, a lot has moved forward here as well, without the same background. We have problems on both sides on not being able to move forward toward democracy, and that is the most important thing.“
„If only what they agree upon is implemented in time, and if they implement what they agree for the benefit of the people, and implement it fast, it would be good for all.“
„Hate is a disaster for humanity. Smart people want to find friends, while others desire enmity. I cannot understand – young people need to be smart, a little sensitive, they know what our ancestors suffered, they should move away from it, that hatred, that intolerance among people, that’s bad. I hope that good people will succeed and we should pray that we are in the hands of good people, and that they will win and that we will live peacefully for a change.“
„I don’t believe that things will be better, in no way better, because I have an apartment on the other side (North), but I can’t go to my apartment – how will it get better then? If only it is like it used to be, for example, so that people can go to the other side or come to this one. It was war, but what they (Serbs) did, no one did. They all sold their apartments, and I cannot go to my apartment.“
„There are no jobs, people do not work, relations are a little better than they used to be because people have realized that there is no other choice but to live together and cooperate.“
“Nothing is better or worse than it used to be. They did not regulate what they agreed on for the ASM. Let them solve that and then we’ll see. And the final agreement, it would be difficult to achieve with them (cf. Albanians).“
„My blood pressure rises when I think about it. That’s why I avoid listening to those political shows. It is disgraceful and shameful. What an improvement, what progress! Because the people can’t influence anything when it comes to that and they just get annoyed. Trust me, my blood pressure is up. Well, first of all, no one mentions the ASM, and when was it signed? I cannot talk about it. I am not a member of any political party, because no party can deal with either the European Union or the world community. “
„I don’t see any drastic changes when it comes to the Serb community, moreover, as far as some things are concerned, I think we are at a standstill, we haven’t moved all these years. People have begun communicating. People from the north have started going south of the Ibar River, but it is not in the long run because there are always cases when there are attacks on Serbs that somehow spoil the impression, in fact, these incidents spoil the impression that there has been an improvement in mutual cooperation and communication.“
The majority of KoSSev portal’s interlocutors today – both from South and North Mitrovica – were the elderly citizens, who were happy for their voices to be heard, while young people tended to shy away from sharing their view on whether their lives have improved in the last 10 years.
What happened in the past
The first talks were led by Borko Stefanovic and Edita Tahiri with Catherine Ashton. At that time, there were numerous barricades in the north – which refused to be integrated into the Kosovo system. Through Ivica Dacic and Hashim Thaci, then the Baroness, and the „First Agreement on Normalization“ in 2013, the integration of the North began, with over 30 accompanying technical agreements, which established local Kosovan governments, and integrated civil protection services, police, judiciary, border crossings, and the process of energy system integration is underway.
New political negotiators arrived – Aleksandar Vucic and Isa Mustafa, Avdullah Hoti, followed by what is referred to as a dialogue “deadlock”, but also an emphasis on the „Comprehensive Agreement on Normalization of Relations“.European „facilitators“ also changed – after Ashton, the EU was represented by Federica Mogherini, and now Miroslav Lajcak, whose goal is the signing of this very agreement.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
