The European Union has stated that the recent arrest and prosecution of a Kosovo Albanian citizen by Serbian authorities constitutes a violation of Serbia’s obligations under the 2015 Justice Agreement reached within the EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
“The latest arrest and prosecution of a Kosovo Albanian citizen by Serbian authorities represents another violation of Serbia’s obligations under the 2015 Dialogue Justice Agreement,” an EU spokesperson said in response to the arrest of M.Lj., a Kosovo citizen detained last Thursday at the Batrovci border crossing.
According to Serbian authorities, M.Lj. was arrested on suspicion of having committed war crimes in Kosovo as a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
The EU spokesperson stated that, under the 2015 Agreement, Serbia committed itself “not to initiate criminal investigations or prosecutions for alleged crimes committed in Kosovo, unless requested by Kosovo authorities.”
“Jurisdiction over allegations of war crimes and other serious offences lies with Kosovo institutions,” the spokesperson said, calling on Serbia to respect its commitments under the dialogue framework.
The same response was initially provided to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Albanian Service and was later confirmed to our outlet after multiple media reported on the EU’s position.
Call for return of Kosovo Serb judicial staff
In the same statement, the EU also reiterated its call on Serbia to encourage the return of Kosovo Serb judges, prosecutors and judicial staff to Kosovo’s judicial institutions.
“We also call on Serbia to actively encourage the return of Kosovo Serb judges, prosecutors and judicial staff to Kosovo’s judicial institutions,” the spokesperson said.
Kosovo Serb judges, prosecutors and other officials withdrew from Kosovo institutions in November 2022, amid heightened tensions between Belgrade and Pristina.
Legal ambiguity in publicly available agreements?
Belgrade and Pristina reached the so-called technical Justice Agreement on 9 February 2015, while the foundations for integrating Serbian judicial personnel into Kosovo’s legal system were laid earlier, in April 2014, through the Brussels Agreement on the principles governing the normalization of relations.
The first point of the Justice Agreement stipulates that judicial institutions shall operate under Kosovo law, in accordance with the Brussels Agreement. The Brussels Agreement itself states that judicial authorities shall be integrated and function within Kosovo’s legal framework.
However, an examination of the publicly available versions of the 2015 Justice Agreement shows that none of its 15 clauses explicitly state that Serbia undertook not to initiate investigations or prosecutions for alleged crimes committed in Kosovo, except at the request of Kosovo authorities.
The arrest of M.L., a Kosovo Albanian citizen, on Serbian territory under the full jurisdiction of Serbian judicial and police authorities has raised questions about how the agreement applies in cases occurring entirely under Serbian sovereignty. Based on the publicly available texts, it is not explicitly clear how these provisions would govern such situations.
Request for clarification
In light of these ambiguities, we have once again contacted the European Union, seeking clarification on which specific provisions of the 2015 Justice Agreement the EU believes Serbia violated by arresting M.Lj. on its own territory.
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