{"id":844,"date":"2023-05-02T09:59:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T09:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/?p=844"},"modified":"2024-12-09T11:29:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T09:29:13","slug":"te-lexosh-mes-rreshtave-te-marreveshjes-kosove-serbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/opinion\/te-lexosh-mes-rreshtave-te-marreveshjes-kosove-serbi\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading between the lines of the EU-facilitated deal between Kosovo and Serbia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU-facilitated Agreement<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Annex<\/a>\u00a0between Kosovo and Serbia reached in February in Brussels, is a step in the right direction in the dialogue between the two sides.<\/p>\n

The documents include several important novelties, such as Serbia\u2019s giving up on representing Kosovo and objecting to its membership in international organizations; the establishment of permanent missions between Kosovo and Serbia, and the creation of a joint implementation committee for monitoring the Agreement\u2019s implementation.<\/p>\n

By closely reading the Agreement and the Annex, there are several important takeaways that indicate a shift in the EU\u2019s approach to the dialogue.<\/p>\n

No more asterisk for Kosovo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kosovo is referred to without the asterisk. The EU has subtly removed the asterisk from Kosovo that was agreed upon in the\u00a0Regional Representation and Cooperation Agreement<\/a>\u00a0in 2012, deriving from the title of the new agreement. In the past, the EU consistently provided an asterisk and footnote referring to the Security Council Resolution 1244 and the ICJ\u2019s Advisory Opinion on Kosovo\u2019s declaration of independence, when mentioning Kosovo in documents.<\/p>\n

This is the first official EU document where Kosovo is referred to without an asterisk, marking a shift from the EU\u2019s neutral position. It remains to be seen how the EU will refer to Kosovo in future documents and whether the new agreement means the final abandoning of the asterisk.<\/p>\n

From Pristina-Belgrade Dialogue to Kosovo-Serbia Dialogue<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has evolved into the dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. This shift is evident not only from the title of the documents<\/a> but also from the fact that \u201cKosovo\u201d and \u201cSerbia\u201d are referred to in the context of dialogue in six points out of twelve in the Annex.<\/p>\n

However, the EU\u2019s Diplomatic Service continues to refer to the dialogue process as the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue<\/a> on its website, indicating some ambiguity. It remains unclear what is the official position of the EU when it comes to referring to the dialogue between the two sides. The future statements of EEAS and the EU will provide clarification.<\/p>\n

Recognition of Kosovo-issued documents including passports<\/strong><\/p>\n

One major point of\u00a0tension<\/a>\u00a0between Kosovo and Serbia has been the recognition of identification (ID) cards and vehicle license plates. The EU Agreement addresses this issue in its first article, stating that\u00a0\u201cboth Parties shall mutually recognise their respective documents and national symbols, including passports, diplomas, licence plates, and customs stamps.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This Agreement has evolved beyond ID cards and license plates, which have been recognized already, and extends to include passports, state flag, customs stamps and diplomas. As such, the agreement appears to overcome not only the ID and license plates issue but also the recognition of Kosovo\u2019s state symbols more broadly.<\/p>\n

Vucic refused to sign the deal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Agreement has one major\u00a0setback:<\/a>\u00a0Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic refused to sign it and instead accepted it only verbally. In his public appearances, he stated that Serbia accepted to implement the Agreement and the Annex \u201cto certain limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Vucic\u2019s statement is at odds with Article 4 of the Agreement. He said that Serbia\u2019s red lines are recognition of Kosovo and membership of Kosovo in the UN. Serbia already acted contrary to Article 4 by voting against Kosovo\u2019s membership in the Council of Europe. This raises concerns about the implementation of the Agreement. However, despite Serbia\u2019s opposition, the fact that the Committee of Ministers invoked Article 4 of the Agreement when voting on Kosovo\u2019s application to the Council of Europe shows the Agreement\u2019s importance.<\/p>\n

The latest agreement in the dialogue between the two sides represents a change in the EU\u2019s approach. Despite initial dissatisfaction of both sides with the Agreement, it has the potential to move things forward. However, its implementation will depend largely on the EU\u2019s ability to deliver on its enlargement policy.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marr\u00ebveshja\u00a0dhe\u00a0Aneksi nd\u00ebrmjet Kosov\u00ebs dhe Serbis\u00eb\u00a0e arritur n\u00eb shkurt n\u00eb Bruksel me nd\u00ebrmjet\u00ebsimin e BE-s\u00eb \u00ebsht\u00eb nj\u00eb hap n\u00eb drejtimin e duhur n\u00eb dialogun mes dy pal\u00ebve. Dokumentet p\u00ebrfshijn\u00eb nj\u00eb varg risish t\u00eb r\u00ebnd\u00ebsishme, si\u00e7 \u00ebsht\u00eb heqja dor\u00eb nga ana e Serbis\u00eb p\u00ebr t\u00eb p\u00ebrfaq\u00ebsuar Kosov\u00ebn dhe kund\u00ebrshtimi i an\u00ebtar\u00ebsimit t\u00eb saj n\u00eb organizatat nd\u00ebrkomb\u00ebtare; krijimi […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":10596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[669,672,664,12],"ppma_author":[25],"class_list":["post-844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-dialogue","tag-eu","tag-kosovo","tag-serbia"],"authors":[{"term_id":25,"user_id":15,"is_guest":0,"slug":"milos-pavkovic","display_name":"Milo\u0161 Pavkovi\u0107","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MP_cropped-150x150-1.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MP_cropped-150x150-1.jpg"},"user_url":"","last_name":"Pavkovi\u0107","first_name":"Milo\u0161","description":"Milo\u0161 Pavkovi\u0107 \u00ebsht\u00eb nj\u00eb shkenc\u00ebtar politik me specializim n\u00eb rajonin e Evrop\u00ebs Juglindore, politik\u00ebn krahasuese, regjimet hibride dhe politik\u00ebn e BE-s\u00eb. Studimet bachelor dhe master p\u00ebr shkenca politike i kreu n\u00eb Universitetin e Beogradit. Ai kaloi nj\u00eb vit n\u00eb Universitetin e Grazit si student n\u00eb Erasmus dhe mbrojti tez\u00ebn e magjistratur\u00ebs (De)konsolidimi i shtet\u00ebsis\u00eb s\u00eb Kosov\u00ebs n\u00eb kontekstin e negociatave bashk\u00ebkohore nd\u00ebrmjet Qeverive t\u00eb Kosov\u00ebs* dhe Serbis\u00eb. Ai kreu masterin e dyt\u00eb n\u00eb shkencat politike n\u00eb Universitetin e Evrop\u00ebs Qendrore (CEU). Ai \u00ebsht\u00eb bashk\u00ebautor i publikimit Elementet kryesore t\u00eb nevojshme p\u00ebr p\u00ebrparimin n\u00eb normalizimin e marr\u00ebdh\u00ebnieve nd\u00ebrmjet Kosov\u00ebs dhe Serbis\u00eb. Milo\u0161 aktualisht \u00ebsht\u00eb i pun\u00ebsuar si studiues n\u00eb Qendr\u00ebn e Politikave Evropiane (CEP), Beograd dhe sh\u00ebrben si Ambasador i Ri i Evrop\u00ebs n\u00eb Ballkanin Per\u00ebndimor."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10792,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844\/revisions\/10792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbunker.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}