The Academy of Sciences and Arts has organized a scientific conference, which addressed geopolitical changes and challenges for the state of Kosovo. Former members of the government, who are also academics, listed the problems, from the formation of the Association of Serb-majority municipalities to the EU integration process. There was a call for Kosovo to strengthen its international position, institutional capacities and Euro-Atlantic orientation
Kosovo cannot overcome the obstacles on the path to the European Union (EU) alone, said former Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi, at the scientific conference organized on Wednesday by the Academy of Sciences and Arts (ASHAK), which addressed geopolitical changes and challenges for the state of Kosovo.
Kuçi said that to advance in the integration process, the state needs strong political support.
"Many things are not in the hands of our institutions. First of all, I have in mind the five member states of the European Union. I think that Germany should be, eventually France, one of them, the 'guardian angel' of our process in the EU", said Kuçi, during his speech at this conference.
Kuçi said that without such political support, Kosovo finds it difficult to overcome the blockages in the integration process, as the state is still not recognized by five member states: Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus.
"Without having a guardian angel, in particular, the agenda does not continue, but above all, let us accept one fact: we will not be the ones to overcome any obstacle if we do not have someone who gives us greater political and legal support than necessary, and currently only these two countries can do such a thing," said Kuçi. "EU membership has two paths, either by gaining recognition from five countries, or by the European Union changing the treaties. The second is less credible. The first, perhaps we should work a little harder, both ourselves and with our international partners."
also Kosovo off the EU radarKosovo is the only country in the region that does not have the status of a candidate country. It applied during the Czech presidency, in December 2022, but the application was not reviewed. Among other reasons, the fact that the five countries that have not recognized Kosovo's citizenship are blocking the review was cited as the reason for this.
During the conference, among the challenges to statehood, the formation of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities, to which Kosovo has committed through the agreement with Serbia, mediated by the EU, was also mentioned.
Academic Arsim Bajrami, who has been a minister in governments led by parties that are now in opposition, said that securing candidate status from the EU could be achieved if the Association were established. However, he warned of the risk that this mechanism would take on the character of political-territorial autonomy. He criticized the current government for several points of the recent agreement with Serbia.
"From an idea of a consultative association, it is being transformed into a mechanism that pretends to be perfidiously transformed into political-territorial autonomy, which was in a way confirmed by both the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Agreement, which contain several legal premises in point 7 and point 10, behind which a perfidious request may be hidden that for municipalities with a Serbian majority, a political-territorial autonomy be installed, which is the most advanced model of autonomies. And I think that here Kosovo must be determined to reject this model, but must show itself to be a dignified state to fulfill international obligations," said Bajrami, who was part of the government in 2013, when the first agreement providing for the Association was accepted.
"A state that does not fulfill its international obligations has no respect in the international community. Even if an international obligation is accepted quickly, it remains an international obligation. You can be released from that international obligation only by legal means when you abrogate that agreement. So, if an international agreement has not been good, the only option is to abrogate it with the same mechanism that you approved it."
Bajrami said that Kosovo institutions must be very careful that this association is established, but only on the basis of the Constitution of Kosovo, Kosovo legislation.
"No intermediate power should be allowed, no violation of the integrity or the unique system and order. It is the responsibility of the government that for six years kept Kosovo in suspense in this cause, until we had the opportunity for this cause to be overcome in a state, institutional way, and for Kosovo to be enabled to factorize, whether it be admission to the Council of Europe, meaning we have lost that opportunity, but also admission to dozens of European conventions," he said. "Perhaps admission to UNESCO, admission to Interpol, and opening the way for acceptance of candidate status in the European Union and for an associated status within NATO, whether through a partnership for peace, or by gaining a privileged status for accelerated membership."
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Economic challenges were also addressed at the conference.
Academic Isa Mustafa, who led the Government for one term, said that Kosovo has structural problems in terms of development, mainly related to the limited production base.
"Through trade, we are affected by imports and exports, and our concentration on exports. It is an energy problem because we are very dependent on the import of electricity from other countries, we are dependent on coal, and we have a small share of energy from other renewable sources compared to other countries. We have problems with investments, even with foreign direct investments, of which 70 percent are investments by our compatriots, or the diaspora, and 30 percent are other investments that are mainly in sectors that are not productive and do not represent an opportunity to increase Kosovo's competitiveness, and the issue of emigration, which is now a very big concern," Mustafa said. "We have a population reduction of about 200 thousand during this recent period, we have an exodus from Kosovo, which mainly speaks of young people and brains, and we have long-term economic uncertainty on this basis."
Mustafa said that Kosovo and the Western Balkans remain highly dependent on the European Union.
"We have structural problems in the context of development, which problems mainly have to do with the limited production base. In Kosovo, our gross domestic product is based on 62 percent in the service sector, we only have 22 percent of the gross domestic product created by production, we have 9 percent from agriculture and the rest from construction. And with this economic structure, we have difficulty being competitive in other countries in the Western Balkans and the European Union," said Mustafa, who is also a professor of economics.
The conference was opened by the President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts, former Minister Justina Pula, who said that global developments have created new challenges for Kosovo and the region.
“The war in Ukraine, rivalries between great powers, changes in the European and global security architecture, the rise of nationalism and Euroscepticism, as well as the challenges of Euro-Atlantic integration, have created a new geopolitical reality that requires serious academic, institutional and strategic reflection,” said Pula, who is also a professor of economics. “In this context, the Republic of Kosovo is faced with numerous challenges, but also with new development and strategic opportunities. As a young democratic state, Kosovo continues to face issues related to the consolidation of international subjectivity, strengthening state sovereignty, economic development, Euro-Atlantic integration, and maintaining institutional and constitutional stability.”
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She said that these processes become even more complex in a region like the Western Balkans, which has historically been a space of convergence of geopolitical interests and various international powers.
Participants assessed that in the context of major geopolitical changes, Kosovo must strengthen its international position, institutional capacities and Euro-Atlantic orientation.
