Kosovo's path to the EU: Can the Dialogue with Belgrade remain on the sidelines?

Brussels and European capitals have stated countless times that Pristina and Belgrade cannot make progress on their European paths without normalizing their relations. However, Kosovo representatives responsible for the Brussels Dialogue and negotiations with the EU have increasingly argued in public that Kosovo's progress toward European integration should not be conditional on developments in the Dialogue with Belgrade. According to Kosovo Online's interlocutors, assessing Kosovo's progress toward the EU separately from the Dialogue with Belgrade is not possible. They are convinced that Brussels will not change its position on the matter and therefore interpret such demands from Pristina as populism.

Written by: Dusica Radeka Djordjevic

Pristina tested the waters in Brussels on this issue two years ago. At the time, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called for Kosovo's European Union integration process to be separated from the process of normalizing relations with Serbia. The response from EU

headquarters was clear: Kosovo's integration process is directly linked to the Dialogue process.
Kosovo's chief negotiator with the European Union, Jeton Zulfaj, has now brought the issue back into focus. As he recently stated, Kosovo should not be made dependent on developments in the Dialogue with Serbia.

"It is important for us not to be held hostage by Serbia's lack of willingness to normalize relations or by its progress. We should have our own path forward and be assessed on our own merits, and all indicators show that we have made significant progress," Zulfaj said.

Yesterday, he also said that Kosovo had strong arguments for obtaining EU candidate status and opening accession negotiations as soon as possible, citing a "stable and growing economy" and full alignment with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Kosovo's Ambassador in Brussels and Pristina's chief negotiator in the Dialogue with Belgrade, Agron Bajrami, also stated late last month that Kosovo should be granted candidate status for European Union membership and allowed to advance in the integration process independently of Serbia.

Analysts, however, consider such a scenario unrealistic.

A superficial position with no influence

It is unrealistic for Pristina to ask the European Union to bypass steps related to the Dialogue with Belgrade in Kosovo's European integration process, because the European path of both Kosovo and Serbia depends on how they resolve the most urgent issues, political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri believes.

He points out that the European Union is not prepared to bring the unresolved problems between Kosovo and Serbia into its own institutional framework.

"Without a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia, it will not be possible to take substantive steps toward the European Union because that is what the EU has established as a criterion. Therefore, this is not up to Kosovo or Serbia; it is what the European Union wants, as do the United States. That is why I do not think it is realistic to ask the European Union to accelerate the necessary steps without first resolving the urgent and vital issues that are crucial for the future, because a final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is not only a matter between the two of them, but will have a major impact throughout the region," Muhaxhiri told Kosovo Online.

The EU, he added, does not want to bring even more problems into its structures than it already has.

"I think it is highly unrealistic to ask the European Union to bypass these steps because the EU has invested a great deal in the Dialogue and in efforts to find a historic final solution. I do not think it will back down or change its position in that regard. Therefore, all of this is merely populism and a superficial political position with no real influence on the European integration agenda," Muhaxhiri concluded.

Belgrade-based security studies researcher Nikola Vujinovic says that, from the perspective of European integration, it is impossible to assess Kosovo's overall progress toward the EU separately from the Dialogue with Belgrade. He therefore believes that statements by Pristina representatives are intended for domestic political consumption, given the lack of progress in European integration.

"Five European Union member states do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, so a prerequisite for entering the European integration process is that they be recognized. And these five states—Spain in particular—do not want to recognize Kosovo until Serbia does. Therefore, it makes no sense to speak of continuing European integration without considering the Dialogue process and how Serbia and Kosovo will regulate their future relations," Vujinovic told Kosovo Online.

Other obstacles as difficult as the Dialogue

Our interlocutor added that, when listening to statements by Pristina representatives, what he found "most amusing" was their belief that, if they entered the European integration process, they would already have met some of the criteria.

"That is simply untrue. Kosovo is lagging behind in implementing the Growth Plan, not only because of the institutional crisis but also because of the inability of its institutions to address issues concerning the rule of law, property, minority communities—above all the Serbian community—and the continuing violence against the Serbian community. All of these are obstacles just as serious as the Dialogue," he said.

If Kosovo were to obtain EU candidate status, Vujinovic believes that negotiating Chapter 35 would concern the Brussels Dialogue—that is, monitoring the implementation of agreements reached in the process of normalizing relations with Belgrade—just as it does in Serbia's accession negotiations with the EU.

"Especially because the European Union is the guarantor of the Brussels Agreement, the Ohrid Agreement, and all agreements reached since 2013. Therefore, because of the requirements arising from the EU acquis, the European Union could not simply bypass this. Not to mention that completing the Questionnaire would bring many other issues onto the agenda. I think this is merely an attempt to mislead the domestic public because Mr. Kurti is currently pursuing two tracks. The first is: I will manage to reach an agreement with the opposition and there will be no elections. The second is: I am preparing for new elections. This was therefore a topic for July because there was a major summit in Brussels concerning candidate countries at the time, and now we will wait until September. This is all part of the election campaign in Kosovo and Metohija," Vujinovic assessed.

Albin Kurti formally submitted Kosovo's application for EU membership on December 15, 2022.