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Profit Gas
- 19 May 2025 19:11
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Despite warnings from European leaders that the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue should resume soon, expectations for any major breakthrough are minimal. Experts on developments point out that the lack of political will, the failure to fulfill agreements and uncertainties within the EU itself are keeping this process on hold.
The resumption of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, despite calls from European Union leaders who came on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit, cannot produce any major breakthrough, say experts on developments.
KOHË's Brussels correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, has mentioned several aspects that the EU should clarify before resuming the dialogue.
"The dialogue can resume, but it is unlikely to produce any breakthrough, since the parties have been stuck in implementing their obligations for a long time. Before resuming the dialogue, the European Union must clarify for itself whether or not the agreement that was allegedly reached in Brussels and then the Annex in Ohrid is in force. Serbia has said several times, and has done so in writing, that it does not intend to fully respect and implement that agreement, while in Kosovo we do not even have an Assembly, let alone a new government to take responsibility in a genuine dialogue process," Palokaj said.
The resumption of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia in the coming weeks has been requested by French President Emmanuel Macron from Tirana, where he held a press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama.
He was asked about President Vjosa Osmani's criticism that the EU is showing imbalance with the parties and penalizing those who implement the constitutional order.
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Macron emphasized that a long time has passed in dialogue and that the EU has the legitimacy to seek concrete advances on political issues.
"I think that the demands are not a loss of credibility. We need to get out of this confrontation that is blocking the situation. I hope that in the coming weeks we will resume dialogue with both Pristina and Belgrade, because each country has faced political-social difficulties, so that we can make progress. The demands are legitimate and we should not let an indirect dialogue be established, as it is not the right way to advance," Macron said. He also stressed the need for political will to advance in the dialogue.
"It's never a good idea when we try to blur the lines or question the process," President Macron said.
The latest Kosovo-Serbia agreement has been pushed even by President Macron and is based on the so-called Franco-German plan. However, the document that Serbia refused to sign has not been implemented.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, responding to journalists, expressed optimism for results in the dialogue.
President Vjosa Osmani, who represented Kosovo at the summit, held a bilateral meeting with Kallas in Tirana, after saying that she will be abroad next week, when the EU's foreign policy chief is scheduled to visit Kosovo. She stressed that before resuming the dialogue, the EU must lift the measures against Kosovo, and said that she had expressed her concern about this at the dinner organized by EU leaders.
Palokaj says that meetings may continue, but not at a high level.
"Apart from visits and calls for dialogue, and then here and there a meeting of different levels within the framework of the chief negotiators, for example, I do not see any possibility of any major turning point, as long as the situations in both Serbia and Kosovo are not clarified. But the European Union must make efforts, if for nothing else, to justify the positions that have been created within the framework of the European Union structures that are also tasked with dealing with dialogue," Palokaj emphasized.
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EU expects a "new beginning" in relations with Kosovo
The issue of dialogue was also mentioned on Saturday by Bodo Weber, a senior fellow at the Berlin-based Council for Democratization Policy. In an interview with Radio Free Europe, he stressed that the new government in Germany should undertake a strategic turn in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.
"The question is whether the new German government will insist on these unfulfilled agreements, or will have the courage to promote a deep resumption of dialogue - for a comprehensive and final agreement. This would require a strategic turn in EU policy towards Serbia, not treating the Vučić regime as a partner of values. It remains to be seen whether the CDU and Merz have the strength for this. Otherwise, the dialogue will deepen even further into crisis and the EU will lose more credibility as a democratic actor, in Kosovo and in Serbia," Weber said.
The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue began in 2011, but despite the agreements, their implementation has so far been lacking. Serbia has refused to implement the points of the latest agreements that require it not to hinder Kosovo's membership in international organizations. Belgrade has continuously lobbied against Kosovo's recognition and membership in international mechanisms.
