Kosovo and dialogue are not popular topics in Serbia, although a foreign factor had an impact on the political crisis in Kosovo, the new government will not have the political will to reach an agreement with Belgrade, the executive editor of the European Western Balkans portal, Nikola Burazer told KoSSev. According to Burazer, there is no will for an agreement in Serbia either, as all attention is redirected toward the upcoming elections.
The Kosovo Constitutional Court declared on Thursday night that the decree of the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci – which appointed Avdullah Hoti from the ranks of LDK as the prime minister-designate of the new Kosovo government – is constitutional. This decision unblocked the process by which the Kosovo Assembly was supposed to vote on the new government – consisting of LDK, Haradinaj’s AAK, Limaj’s NISMA, Pacolli’s AKR, Srpska Lista and other parties representing non-majority communities – on May 2nd.
„Dialogue with Pristina is hardly talked about in Serbia, and even if it is mentioned somewhere, it is done in the context of the internal political struggle in Kosovo. Parliamentary elections are expected in Serbia on June 21st, but the issue of Kosovo is not a popular topic at all, as all attention is given to the issue of election conditions and possible participation of opposition parties“.
In Belgrade, the internal turmoil in Kosovo was not a popular topic, and the effect of the new government on the possible continuation of the dialogue is not guaranteed, the executive editor of the European Western Balkans portal, Nikola Burazer told KoSSev, adding that he is skeptical that an agreement will be reached in the new, changed circumstances in Pristina.
„I am skeptical that there is political will in Kosovo to reach an agreement on the normalization of relations with Serbia. The foreign factor certainly played an important role in the political crisis in Kosovo. Now we can expect that the new government will make more strides in that direction when compared to Kurti’s,” Burazer told KoSSev, adding that this does not mean that the new government will be ready for „more serious compromises with Serbia.“
“The situation in Kosovo is very sensitive, and any concession to Serbia, such as the creation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities or the border correction, is extremely unpopular. Even if some kind of agreement is reached, the big question of its sustainability would remain,“ he added.
According to Burazer, even in Belgrade, where the political situation is more stable and predictable, there is no political will for this kind of development.
„What is certainly clear is that the Serbian Progressive Party will win these elections and that Aleksandar Vucic will not have a more serious opposition within the institutions for reaching an agreement with Kosovo. Opposition outside parliament and an attempt to delegitimize the new government by boycotting the elections could create problems for Aleksandar Vucic and deepen the political crisis, but it seems less likely that this will be an insurmountable obstacle to an agreement with Kosovo. The question is, however, whether there is political will in Serbia to make such an unpopular move at this moment, especially considering the expected negative economic consequences of the pandemic,“ he explained.
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Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
