The President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti held a meeting in Brussels this Monday. After the meeting, it was announced that the parties agreed that „no further talks are needed“ regarding the European proposal – whose full content was published on the same evening under the name „Agreement on the path to normalization between Kosovo and Serbia.“
The agreement consists of 11 articles, one of which mentions the Kosovo Serb community and the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The seventh article of the proposal states that both parties commit to establishing specific arrangements and guarantees, in accordance with relevant Council of Europe instruments and by drawing on existing European experiences, to ensure “an appropriate level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo and ability for service provision in specific areas, including the possibility for financial support by Serbia and a direct communication channel for the Serbian community to the Government of Kosovo.”
The same article also states that the parties shall formalize the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and afford a „strong level“ of protection to Serbian religious and cultural heritage sites, in line with existing European models.
Although this is the only article of the European proposal referring to the Kosovo Serb community, as well as the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, still described it as „not easy.”
„Yesterday’s agreement accepted some difficult proposals related to the self-management of the Serb minority in Kosovo and the regulation of the legal status of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The text of the agreement does not fully clarify the implications of these and some other issues, which must necessarily be clarified before the finalization of the Implementation Plan,“ she told Pristina-based Koha on February 28th – a day after the content of the proposal was published. Osmani also complained about the „difficult decisions“ to various ambassadors in Kosovo yesterday.
The former vice president of the Kosovo government and former supporter of the ruling Self-Determination party, Haki Abazi, also criticized the proposal for a special status for the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. According to Abazi, „Serbian colonization“ from the time of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes lies behind the extraterritoriality of the property of the Orthodox Church in parts of Kosovo that are rich natural resources and minerals.
„In every place where there are natural resources and underground ores in Kosovo, the Serbian King has placed Serbian colonizers. Gracanica, Novo Brdo, Pec, Mitrovica, Strpce, Klokot, Obilic, and other places where there are gold, silver, chrome, bauxite, lignite, and rare minerals – this is the reason for the extraterritoriality of the property of the Orthodox Church.“
He added that it is „a way of not allowing Kosovo to develop, resulting in the departure of its Albanian population.“
In Kosovo, the presence of Serbia and Serbs in this territory during the first half of the 20th century is referred to as „colonization“.
Moreover, Serbs being described as „colonizers“ and „occupiers“ and discussions on „Serbian colonization“ have also been frequent in the second half of the 20th century, and such debates continue to date.
One of the latest examples is the returnee settlement of Sun Valley, which is described as „typical Serbian colonization“ by Kosovo leaders.
The historical narrative that Serbia’s presence in Kosovo is „colonization“ is widely accepted among the Kosovo Albanian community, and even taught in Kosovan schools.
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