Another round of Escobar and Lajcak shuttle diplomacy: Will the formation of the CSM finally begin

The European Union Special Representative for dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Miroslav Lajcak, and the US envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, will meet tonight and tomorrow with representatives of the Kosovo authorities, and according to Kosovo Online's interlocutors, demands for the withdrawal of Special Police Forces from the north will be at the forefront of those talks and the issue of illegitimate mayors of municipalities with a Serbian majority, that is, the organization of new elections.

The formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities could remain at the appeal level this time as well.

Although the EU's call from Saturday, sent to Pristina and Belgrade to take measures for de-escalation, stated that this included the start of work on the establishment of the CSM "without further delay or preconditions", there was no mention of the concrete steps that the Kosovo authorities should take in order to prepare the political and legal terrain for the formation of the CSM.

Predrag Rajic from the Center for Social Stability tells Kosovo Online that it is clear that tensions cannot be calmed until the CSM is formed and the formation process concretely begins, but that the big question is whether Escobar and Lajcak will now decide on that kind of pressure towards Pristina.

"I don't think the will has yet matured in the West to start that process, but Washington's latest decisions, specifically the introduction of sanctions against Pristina, give some hope that they could exert this type of pressure on Kurti. Until now, the West has not dealt with the cause, but with the treatment of the consequences, and today in Pristina, they will probably insist that the Special Forces and illegitimate mayors be withdrawn and that a solution be found for calling early elections, while they will continue to talk about the CSM rather abstractly. It is possible that they will use the summer break in work as an excuse and that it will again be prolonged indefinitely," Rajic says.

When asked why the Serbs should take part in possible repeated elections in the north if there were no steps by the Government of Kosovo before that to prepare the legal ground for the establishment of the CSM, Rajic said that it should be well analyzed.

"We will have to see what their moves will be, so let's see how Belgrade can position itself accordingly," our interlocutor says.

The director of the Institute for Territorial Economic Development, Dragisa Mijacic, tells Kosovo Online that Lajcak and Escobar are coming together for the umpteenth time in a mission to try to resolve the conflict situation that was created by Kurti's sending of Special Police Forces to the north of Kosovo and that the development of events in the coming days will depend on whether the EU and US envoys succeed in trying to convince Kurti to withdraw the police from the north.

"This time the situation is much more complicated than before, but the messages coming from the European Union and America are also stronger. Kurti was sent clear requests; Special Police Forces must withdraw from the administrative centers and urban zones of Serbian areas in the north of Kosovo, after that it is necessary to negotiate a solution to the crisis situation through the organization of new elections but also through the formation of the CSM. The key question is whether Lajcak and Escobar will succeed in their attempt to convince Kurti to withdraw the police, the development of events in the coming days will depend on that," Mijacic assesses.

In the statement of the High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, regarding the events in the north of Kosovo since Saturday, it was stated that Kosovo was expected to immediately suspend police operations in the vicinity of municipal buildings in the north, that mayors should temporarily perform their duties in other premises, and not in municipal buildings; that early elections should be called as soon as possible in all four municipalities, and that Kosovo Serbs were expected to participate in those elections.

"The European Union expects both Kosovo and Serbia to behave responsibly and to immediately engage in the dialogue led by the EU in order to find a sustainable solution to the situation in the north of Kosovo that guarantees safety, security, and participatory democracy for all citizens and paves the way for implementation of the Agreement on the Normalization Path and its Annex. This includes the start of work on the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority Municipalities without further delay or preconditions," Borrell said.

Lajcak and Escobar, as announced by EU spokesperson Peter Stano, would also stay in Belgrade. Their visit to Pristina and Belgrade aims to engage in the de-escalation of tensions in the north of Kosovo.