Campaign and the CSM: Will positions remain the same after the elections?

Although some opposition parties during the election campaign express views that the European draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities should be submitted to the Constitutional Court for assessment, it remains to be seen whether these parties, if part of the Kosovo government after February 9, would take such a step, as well as all other necessary steps to allow the CSM to be formed. Analysts believe that it will not be easy for any Albanian party to establish the CSM, nor will there be a real political will to do so.

Written by: Dusica Radeka Djordjevic

If he wins the elections on February 9, the president of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj assures that he will send the draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities to the Constitutional Court for assessment in the first week.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo sends mixed signals regarding the CSM. While MP Dzhavit Haliti believes the draft statute should be sent to the Constitutional Court, the leader of that party, Memli Krasniqi, says that the document is unacceptable because it contradicts the Constitution of Kosovo.

The tones heard from the Democratic League of Kosovo regarding the European proposal on the CSM are unequivocally negative. DSK parliamentary candidate Gezim Plakoli has stated that his party opposes the draft statute because, as he noted, it grants territorial autonomy to the Serbian minority in Kosovo.

According to Mazlum Baraliu, a university professor from Pristina, regardless of the statements made during the campaign, it is difficult to assume that any coalition or political party will easily agree to everything demanded by the European Union and the international community regarding the CSM.

He reminds that agreements related to the CSM were made in 2013 and 2015, that an agreement between Pristina and Belgrade was reached in Brussels in 2013 and ratified in the Kosovo parliament, but that no government has implemented them.

"Despite all this, no one has dared to put this issue on the agenda. We do not know what the mosaic of political parties and coalitions that will win the elections will look like, and whoever is in power, I am not convinced that they will quickly and decisively move in this direction, just as no political elite in Serbia dares to so easily and quickly recognize Kosovo's independence," Baraliu stated for Kosovo Online.

Stefan Surlic, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, believes that whatever political option comes to power after February 9, there will not be a real political will to form the Community of Serb Municipalities. He thinks that it will not be feasible without strong international pressure, decisive sanctions, or threats, primarily from the American but also the European side.

Surlic points out that the issue of the CSM is positioned in Kosovo’s political scene as a litmus test, and there is a deliberate insistence on everyone declaring their stance, although in reality, everyone avoids saying, "yes, we support full autonomy for Serbs within the Community of Serb Municipalities." "We have two political options that have declared during the campaign that they will submit the draft statute of the CSM to the Constitutional Court, Haradinaj's party and the former party of Hashim Thaçi, but they say this is something Albin Kurti has committed to and on which American and European partners insist, so no one talks about the essential need to implement it for the sake of lasting peace and understanding between the Serbian and Albanian communities, but rather as a must and condition of Western partners," Surlic evaluates for Kosovo Online.

On the other hand, he adds, there are political options that do not want to enter into any discussion about the CSM, believing that showing a softer stance would give momentum to Self-Determination, which has so far maintained that there will never be a CSM.

"This is an adherence to nationalist rhetoric which, unfortunately, shapes the entire political scene in Kosovo," Surlic highlights.

Similarly, Marko Milenkovic from the NGO "New Social Initiative" tells Kosovo Online that during its mandate, Self-Determination has contaminated and misused the issue of the Community of Serb Municipalities, presenting it as a matter concerning citizen security, as a very negative thing for Kosovo and sovereignty, which will make it very difficult for any political option in power after the elections to address the issue of the CSM and present it in a different light.

"In the campaign, there is not much focus either from the opposition or from Self-Determination on the dialogue and the Community of Serb Municipalities because it is a topic on which they can only lose points with the electorate," evaluates Milenkovic.

In public opinion in Kosovo, the CSM is currently seen as a very negative thing, he points out.

"For this reason, it will be very difficult for any political option when it comes to power to raise this issue and present it in a different light and spirit, especially considering that there will likely be an opposition that will use it as a means to criticize the government. Several factors will probably be considered, including the international community's stance on this issue, but also the strength of the government that will be formed in Pristina, because such an issue will likely require a larger coalition both in power and socially," Milenkovic states.

He points out that in the campaign concerning the CSM, Ramush Haradinaj's party has been more specific, saying that the draft statute of the CSM should be sent to the Constitutional Court for assessment, but that this is aimed at improving relations with the international community.

The entire opposition, as he notes, has historically had better relations with the international community than Self-Determination, which is why in the event of an opposition victory in the elections, he expects greater cooperation with the international community that would result in new agreements and the implementation of what has been agreed upon, but despite this, he does not expect any party to have the CSM as a priority in its program.