What new tools can be used in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue?
The warning of the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, that they will consider alternative means to the dialogue, so that Kosovo and Serbia can take steps towards normalizing relations, is being considered as a potential source of concrete results in this process. Despite the uncertainty about what instruments could be used, experts on the dialogue emphasize the need for the European Union to change its strategy for this process, as it has so far yielded nothing.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas will visit the Western Balkans next week, but not Kosovo.
It will stay in Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The European chief diplomat emphasized a few days ago that the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue has stalled and that they are gathering ideas to come up with a proposal for the full normalization of relations.
Regarding this approach of Kallas, former Kosovar diplomat, Alma Lama, says for KosovaPress, that this is a new perspective and energy that can bring practical results in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
On the other hand, political analyst Seb Bytyçi says of KosovaPress, that the EU’s chief diplomat should direct political pressure more towards Serbia since it is the one that is not implementing the agreements reached.
According to him, if the EU uses “economic conditionality” as an instrument in the dialogue, this would not be in Kosovo’s favor.
Kosovo and Serbia, with the mediation of the European Union, reached a basic agreement in Brussels in February 2023, and a month later, on March 18, they agreed on its implementation annex in Ohrid, North Macedonia. However, its implementation is still not in sight.
Kosovo has repeatedly accused Serbia of violating the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Annex. According to Kosovo institutions, Serbia practically withdrew from this agreement in December 2023, when it sent an official letter to Brussels stating that it has red lines when it comes to implementing the Agreement on the path towards normalization of relations with Kosovo.
/Kosovapress/