Suspending dialogue until the formation of the CSM: Can this "formula" speed up the Brussels process?

Former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia William Montgomery is clear: the solution to the Brussels "deadlock" is to suspend dialogue until the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM). According to Kosovo Online’s interlocutors, the new U.S. administration could resort to this "formula," but they also warn that it could bring new challenges for the Serbian community.

Written by: Arsenije Vuckovic

"I would stop the dialogue. I wouldn’t engage in any further talks but would insist on concrete steps to resolve the issue. Instead of dialogue, I would demand the implementation of what has already been agreed upon. As an ambassador, I couldn’t do that, but the President of the United States could," Montgomery stated in the Kosovo Online podcast when asked how he would restart the dialogue process.

British Ambassador to Pristina Jonathan Hargreaves does not propose this "formula," but he emphasizes that Kosovo can make progress in dialogue with Serbia and secure the lifting of European Union measures only by fulfilling its obligations under the Brussels and Ohrid agreements, including the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM).

"I wouldn’t want to speculate on how the U.S. administration will approach Kosovo in the coming weeks and months. But what I do know is that we will work very closely with Kosovo and encourage its government and society to be as positive and constructive as possible in dialogue with Serbia, as that is clearly the best way to ensure the lifting of measures," Hargreaves stated.

Analysts in Pristina are mainly focused on calculating who might form the new government and what its first steps would be.

Lulzim Peci, director of the KIPRED Institute, believes that submitting the draft CSM statute to the Constitutional Court and determining the status of the Orthodox Church in Kosovo are the two key compromises that need to be made.

"The key compromise for Kosovo is sending the CSM statute to the Constitutional Court and later implementing it. The second issue to be negotiated is the status of the Orthodox Church in Kosovo. These are the two key points we want to regulate. Serbia's compromise is to de facto recognize Kosovo's independence at this stage," Peci said.

Essential Autonomy

However, Dusko Celic, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law in North Mitrovica, told Kosovo Online that developments in recent years have shown that the formation of the CSM is an outdated solution that cannot guarantee the survival of the Serbian community in Kosovo.

The solution, he argues, is essential autonomy, similar to what Albanians received in 1999 through UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

"I believe that events, especially over the past three years, have shown that the idea of the Community of Serb Municipalities is no longer relevant for several reasons. Pristina's continuous and systematic actions against Serbs, which contain elements of apartheid and are, in the full sense, discriminatory, have shown that even the CSM would not be a sufficient institutional guarantee for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija and for the protection of their fundamental human rights," Celic stated.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Belgrade’s proposed solution is not seen as a model that would help the Serbian community, says Duško Celic, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law in North Mitrovica.

"I would rather say that, given the changes in the U.S. administration, the time may be ripe to initiate discussions on new collective mechanisms for protecting the human rights of Serbs. I primarily mean essential autonomy, which Serbs should demand—one that would combine both territorial and personal protections of their rights in Kosovo and Metohija," Celic stated.

He is convinced that such a request could be legally derived from UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

"Resolution 1244 provides for essential autonomy for Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia, clearly referring to the collective rights of Albanians. Logically, Serbs should demand essential autonomy within Kosovo and Metohija, without touching on status issues. This logic seems particularly relevant today, especially since Kurti’s actions over the past three years have completely undermined the idea of the Community of Serb Municipalities, which at this point would not be a sufficient framework for protecting Serbian human rights," Celic emphasized.

When asked how acceptable "essential autonomy" for Serbs in Kosovo would be to Albanians, Celic argued that there is "neither a legal nor moral basis" for them to reject it.

"For Pristina, no mechanism that effectively protects the human rights of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija will be acceptable, including the mechanism of essential autonomy. However, given that they already enjoy it themselves, there is no legal, logical, or moral argument against granting the same to Serbs," Celic concluded.

Celic is convinced that such a proposal would also be well received by the new U.S. administration.

"That voice could be carefully heard in Washington. The idea of essential autonomy for Serbs could influence a shift in Washington’s policy regarding collective mechanisms for protecting Serbian human rights in Kosovo," Celic emphasized.

When asked how the European Union might react to a demand for essential autonomy for Serbs, Celic pointed out that the EU’s mediating role has not been positive so far.

"The previous EU negotiator was highly biased. He acted more as an advocate for one side—Pristina—rather than as a facilitator meant to ease the dialogue. The same applies to the entire European Union. The pressure was primarily on Belgrade, not on Pristina. The response to Pristina’s discriminatory actions was mostly verbal, so we cannot expect the EU’s initial reaction to be positive," Celic explained.

However, he stressed that the key player in the negotiations remains the United States.

"Let’s not forget that while the U.S. is not a formal participant, it is effectively part of these negotiations. Therefore, the success of future talks will depend not on the Brussels process but on Washington. I believe the U.S. will play the decisive role, and the EU will have no choice but to adapt to that stance," Celic concluded.

The Shortest Path

Pristina-based analyst Shkëlzen Maliqi aligns more closely with Montgomery’s stance, arguing that the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) is the shortest path to normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina.

"I believe this is the shortest path for the new European administration. The EU remains the facilitator, and it has been two years since this agreement was reached—an agreement they consider signed and a binding international obligation for both Serbia and Kosovo. However, we have seen, not only in the last four years but over the past decade, that this process has been blocked precisely because of the CSM," Maliqi told Kosovo Online.

Shkëlzen Maliqi sees the solution in the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement.

"The proposal initially taken on by Germany and France, and later backed by the entire European Union, could begin to be realized. There is even a ‘roadmap’ for how it will be gradually implemented. There is a chance to move in that direction," Maliqi explains.

However, he warns that failure to move forward could lead to renewed conflict.

"If we start over, I don’t know where it would lead. Unless they want to return to the idea of partition or territorial exchange, which could again serve as a trigger for conflicts, not for a solution," Maliqi emphasized.

He believes that solutions proposed in the Brussels agreements from 2013 and 2015 could have been applied in the normalization process.

"That initial proposal, with some corrections, was fundamentally a solution. The Constitutional Court made some remarks, but it didn’t say that the CSM should not be created, because that’s also an obligation under the Ahtisaari plan. Based on that plan, Kosovo was even able to declare independence," Maliqi highlights.

Washington’s Role

Petar Donic, a collaborator with the New Third Way, argues that suspending dialogue is not a good solution for the Serbian community in Kosovo.

"Whenever there was no dialogue, the situation changed and worsened against Serbian interests, so halting the dialogue would definitely result in a worse position. Whenever there was dialogue, it was good. We saw that the Ohrid Agreement revitalized dialogue. Dialogue is important and should continue," Donic told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on Montgomery's statement, Petar Donic emphasizes that both previous and current U.S. administrations have highlighted the importance of forming the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM).

"The issue of the Community of Serb Municipalities has been a priority for the past, the previous, and the current administration. It is a very important matter for them. In the broader context of U.S. state and policy, as well as Europe, it is linked to the normalization of relations and is understood that Europe continues its strategy and policy to bring both sides closer," Donic explains.

However, much will depend on the further "positioning" of the European Union, as well as the appointment of new U.S. ambassadors to Belgrade and Pristina and a special envoy for the Western Balkans.

"Europe is still on its way to becoming a larger ‘player,’ a factor, and in that context, it is trying to maintain and expand its position. On the other hand, the U.S. still plays a huge role. During Donald Trump’s first term, we saw a significant rapprochement, albeit in the economic sense. Trump has not yet appointed any of the key players for the Western Balkans. We don’t have ambassadors, nor special envoys, so it’s still too early to see if there will be some kind of change or a shift in dynamics, speeding up once these special envoys and ambassadors are selected. Right now, we have a lot of statements but no real action," Donic concluded.