Albin Kurti's new retreat from the CSM - What do the agreements say?

Although he previously stated that he was ready to independently draft a modern European statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti now claims that forming the CSM is not within the executive's authority and that a "top-down imposed" community is a diktat. According to analysts, Kurti's latest interpretation of who should do what to form the CSM is another attempt to avoid the obligations Pristina assumed in the dialogue with Belgrade, while also maneuvering to reduce the CSM to the level of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities.

By Dusica Radeka Djordjevic

"Based on the First Agreement, which recognizes the special character of the Community of Municipalities with a Serb majority, the Government of Kosovo will adopt a decree that will be directly applied and reviewed by the Constitutional Court."

This is the second point of the Agreement on General Principles and Main Elements of the CSM, reached in 2015 by then Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, Aleksandar Vučic and Isa Mustafa. August next year will mark a decade since this decree failed to make it onto the Pristina government’s agenda.

Even governments before Kurti’s found ways to bypass the obligations Pristina accepted in the presence of former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. Whether the newly appointed EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, will remind them of these obligations remains to be seen.

Kurti was countered by outgoing European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano, who stated that "the Government of Kosovo cannot abandon its obligations under the dialogue nor delegate them to municipalities with a Serb majority in Kosovo," citing the agreements from 2013 and 2015.

According to Aleksandar Sljuka, an associate at the NGO "New Social Initiative," the Government of Kosovo is an integral part of the process of forming the CSM. Kurti's claim that the creation of the CSM is not within the executive's jurisdiction is, in Sljuka's view, a form of populist rhetoric and an attempt to exclude himself from the process, complicate the formation of the CSM, and evade responsibility.

"He is trying to present to the domestic audience and his voters that he hasn’t accepted anything involving the Government of Kosovo and himself, portraying the CSM as equivalent to the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, where municipalities can independently unite. He refers to Kosovo laws and its Constitution, but this is fundamentally incorrect because, according to the 2015 CSM Agreement, the Government of Kosovo is required to adopt a decree concerning the CSM, which it then submits to the Constitutional Court to review the statute's constitutionality and legality. This clearly shows the government's involvement in the process," Sljuka told Kosovo Online.

According to the agreements, he adds, the Government of Kosovo is there to facilitate the process of forming the CSM and subsequently transition or integrate remaining Serbian institutions into Kosovo’s system.

"This cannot be achieved solely at the municipal level; there must be coordination between the Governments of Kosovo and Serbia. Many issues need to be resolved at this level, not at the level of local governance. An entire system, including institutional funding, needs alignment between Serbia and Kosovo, requiring the involvement of higher decision-making levels, particularly the Government of Kosovo," Sljuka emphasized.

He also reminds that the CSM was established by an agreement ratified by the Kosovo Assembly, making it an international obligation.

"On the other hand, the Association of Kosovo Municipalities is something municipalities independently created among themselves, not based on any international agreement," Sljuka said.

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic also highlights that Kurti aims to reduce the CSM to the existing Association of Kosovo Municipalities but emphasizes that the CSM cannot be equated with it. According to the agreements, the CSM has additional powers delegated from the central government.

"The CSM has competencies beyond those of individual municipalities and has certain rights to representation at the central level. By definition and agreement, it has additional powers that the Association of Kosovo Municipalities does not," Gogic stated.

He believes Kurti has shifted his rhetoric compared to earlier stances, claiming that the creation of the CSM "is not within the executive authority." Gogic sees this as an acknowledgment that the CSM could be formed, although Kurti indicates that it is not his role as Prime Minister to establish it.

Nevertheless, Gogic notes that while Kurti's statement contains "a grain of truth," the formation process is impossible without the Government of Kosovo's cooperation.

"Formally speaking, the CSM is not formed by the Government of Kosovo but by the CSM's constitutive assembly, comprising representatives from ten Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo. The constitutive assembly adopts the Statute, which establishes the CSM.

However, for the CSM to be integrated into Kosovo's legal system, another document is required—the Government of Kosovo's decree. According to the 2015 agreement, the government adopts a decree confirming the CSM statute, granting the CSM new powers, and transferring responsibilities from the central government to the CSM. This is a bidirectional process. Both municipalities and the central government delegate powers to the CSM," Gogic explained.

At this moment, he added, it is necessary for the Government of Kosovo to present its decree recognizing the CSM as part of Kosovo’s legal framework.

"No one is demanding this from Kurti yet. It hasn’t been brought to the agenda, although it should be," our interlocutor concluded.

Political analyst Belgzim Kamberi told Kosovo Online that, based on agreements reached in the Brussels Dialogue in 2013 and 2015, the Government of Kosovo is tasked with sending the CSM decree to the Constitutional Court. According to Kamberi, Kurti's recent statements that forming the CSM is not within the executive's jurisdiction reflect a tactic to highlight the challenges surrounding the CSM's formation.

"This should be viewed as political rhetoric, not only tied to the upcoming elections but also to the broader political process, considering that the Brussels agreements are not being implemented. Such rhetoric will continue even after the elections in February," Kamberi assesses.

He also emphasizes that the formation of the CSM cannot occur without new elections in northern Kosovo.

"New elections must be held in the municipalities in northern Kosovo to ensure legitimate representatives of the citizens in those predominantly Serb municipalities. Without these elections, the process of forming the CSM cannot be finalized. According to the 2013 and 2015 agreements, the Government of Kosovo first sends the decree to the Constitutional Court, while simultaneously or as soon as possible, new elections should take place in the municipalities in northern Kosovo," says Kamberi.

A slightly different perspective on the issue of authority is offered by political analyst Sadri Ramabaja, who states for Kosovo Online that, according to the European Charter on Local Self-Government and Kosovo's Law on Local Self-Government, the formation of non-governmental organizations, "including the Community of Serb Municipalities, falls under the jurisdiction of the municipalities." He adds that this also stems from the Ahtisaari Plan.

Ramabaja also believes that Serbia lacks the political will to establish the CSM. He argues that the statement by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti should not be treated as mere electoral political rhetoric but as a call for Serbs to participate in active political life. This includes parliamentary elections and subsequently local self-government elections, to create conditions for a normal political life for Serbs in northern Kosovo, similar to those in other parts of Kosovo.