Is the European draft of the CSM statute remaining in the drawer despite warnings from Berlin?

Germany managed to negotiate the withdrawal of the ban on Serbian goods imposed by the Kosovo government, which had been in effect for more than 15 months. However, despite Berlin's simultaneous remarks that the government in Pristina should submit the European draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) to the Constitutional Court for review, analysts believe this is unlikely to happen before the parliamentary elections in Kosovo scheduled for February 9. Pristina’s obligation to form the CSM has been in place for 138 months.

Written by: Dusica Radeka Djordjevic

Germany’s envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, stated during a visit to Pristina that the draft statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities, prepared by the European Union, is good and that Germany wants Pristina to send that document to the Constitutional Court.

"You have a draft written by the EU and your partners and friends, and it’s a good draft. We want you to accept it," Sarrazin said during a panel discussion last week.

Although such comments from Germany are primarily aimed at securing Kosovo a seat in the Council of Europe, and despite Berlin being considered Pristina’s main ally within the European Union, the question remains whether these suggestions carry enough weight to ensure that the European draft of the CSM statute stops gathering dust.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti recently clarified his position on Kosovo’s obligation to form the CSM, stating that he "inherited" the Community. He also said that through the Agreement on the Path to Normalization between Kosovo and Serbia from February 2023, he accepted the formation of the CSM, but only as part of a broader package of normalization that includes mutual recognition.

Dragisa Mijacic, coordinator of the Working Group for Chapter 35 of the National Convention on the EU, considers Manuel Sarrazin’s statement about the CSM to be very explicit. He says it clearly indicates what is expected of Kosovo.

He emphasizes that Pristina's obligations under the Agreement on the Path to Normalization are quite clear and that for implementation to begin, the Kosovo government needs to submit the European draft of the CSM statute to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo for review.

"This was also a condition for Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe, and it is a condition for all further integration processes. Without it, Kosovo cannot move forward. Hence Mr. Sarrazin’s very explicit public statement, which has been communicated multiple times through secret channels with the Prime Minister of Kosovo," Mijacic said for Kosovo Online.

He points out that it is difficult to predict whether Pristina will submit the European draft statute of the CSM to the Constitutional Court before the parliamentary elections in February. However, he notes that all international pressures will certainly move in that direction, and Kosovo cannot escape this obligation.

"The Agreement on the Path to Normalization includes all previous agreements, and Kosovo has agreed to it, even though it constantly seeks excuses, such as the lack of a formal signature on the agreement or the arrest and extradition of Milan Radoicic to Pristina. Regardless of all these demands, Kosovo cannot escape what it has accepted as an obligation, which is the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM). The question now is whether it will be formed sooner or later. Kurti hopes it will be established following the Croatian model, which means it would be an institution without formal significance. The international community hopes that the formation of the CSM will preserve the Serbian political presence in Kosovo, and that is the current cat-and-mouse game. In the next few months, we’ll see whether the scale tips one way or the other," Mijacic said.

Due to the upcoming elections in Kosovo, Marko Savkovic, a senior advisor at the ISAC Fund, does not believe that Pristina will initiate the process of forming the CSM at this time.

"Germany has had a lot of understanding for Pristina's rather rigid stance and the actions of the government led by Prime Minister Kurti, which were often not in the spirit of dialogue nor constructive. I would like Germany to be able to exert influence. However, they (in Kosovo) are facing elections, and the idea that the process concerning the Community will be initiated now seems unlikely to me. I haven't heard a single voice speaking affirmatively in the context of the Community of Serb Municipalities," Savkovic said to Kosovo Online.

He added that a Solomonic solution was found regarding CEFTA and the ban on importing Serbian goods into Kosovo—a solution that had been long sought and which might indicate a return to the spirit of dialogue. However, he believes this will not significantly affect the outlook for the CSM.

When asked whether Berlin expects Belgrade to be the first to make a move in order for Pristina to be "pressed" to start implementing the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), Savkovic says that Belgrade has already done so much.

"Belgrade practically only has to continue calling for and hoping that it will succeed in motivating its representatives to participate in the parliamentary elections in Kosovo and thus return to the institutions. Only with the return of Serbian representatives—representatives who are legitimate to those institutions—will we once again have representatives of the Serbian community in Kosovo’s political life. This is of enormous importance, both in the broader context of the dialogue and, of course, for the lives of the people," Savkovic emphasized.

Analysts from Pristina believe that Kosovo will have to form the CSM sooner or later.

This is also the opinion of Bljerim Canaj, a professor of political history in Pristina.

"I don't know whether Kurti or someone else will agree to form the CSM, but someone will have to finish it. The Serbs are part of this new republic, and since there is an agreement on this, there will have to be some changes, and it will surely be completed," he told Kosovo Online.

The president of the Kosovo Business Alliance, Agim Shahini, also believes that Kosovo will have to form the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM). As he stated for our portal, everything depends on the upcoming elections in the United States.

"I think the solution will ultimately come from the U.S. and the new American president, though I don't know who that will be. We need to return to the White House agreement, which is very important and was accepted by both the president of Serbia and the then Prime Minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti. I believe we will reach an agreement and that we will have to form the Association," said Shahini.

The Kosovo government, he adds, had the opportunity to propose a draft statute for the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM), which it did not do, and when it received a draft from the European Union, it was something it could not accept.

"The type of Community of Serb Municipalities that Serbia is asking for and the one that Kosovo is offering are two points that can never align. However, in both Brussels and Ohrid, as we know, the Kosovo government accepted the agreements, while the Serbian authorities did not. After that, the events in Banjska occurred, along with many other things that are moving us further away from the Brussels and Ohrid agreements every day," Shahini concluded.

Whether the CSM will have similar powers to the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, more or less than that, Shahini adds, should be resolved at the political level, but in such a way that "the Constitution of Kosovo is not endangered."