Summary of the week 52

Rewinding the past, reviving unhealed wounds, and shortsighted views of the future. In this search for focus, another week has passed. Who arrived, who muddied the already murky waters? Find out in this week's Compilation.

For decades, no March in Kosovo has been easy—neither because of memories nor because of reality. Nor because of the traces of suffering that are still visible everywhere.

Journalist Zivojin Rakocevic sums up the general sentiment of Serbs in Kosovo:
"Since that moment in 2004, we have been prisoners of the pogrom, and the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija are prisoners of the pogrom."

They cannot ignore the past, but they must move forward. The visitors from Brussels reminded them of this once again this week, sending a message: "We are here to see where to go next."

After his first meetings in his new mandate, the EU envoy for dialogue, Peter Sørensen, stated:
"We discussed how the process can continue, how it can move forward."

However, as Sørensen soon realized, the starting point for this next step is not the same for everyone.

"During his three-day visit, Sørensen tried to understand what the Kosovo side plans to achieve within this dialogue," explains Dragisa Mijacic, coordinator of the National Convention for Chapter 35.

Although his stay was longer than expected, analysts believe it was still insufficient to grasp the essence of the strategy. Some of Pristina's moves were predictable, while others were dictated by the moment.

"Kurti's strategy is to play dead," says Stefan Surlic from the Faculty of Political Sciences. "To play dead and wait for a new political moment."

A new era of regional military cooperation was declared this week in Tirana. Who knew about this agreement, who approved it—we are yet to see. The signatories insist that there is no reason for concern.

"This is not a hostile message. I know people tend to look for problems elsewhere, but there are none in this text," says Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

While the text itself may not reveal issues, many believe its implementation will.

The President of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic, asserts:
"This declaration is a factor of destabilization, not stabilization, in the region."

New weeks inevitably bring new challenges, while the old ones remain unresolved. The memory of the elections is fading, yet the outcome remains uncertain.

"It seems that everyone is content with the current balance of power," says historian Stefan Radojkovic. "The opposition is waiting to see what will happen, and even Kurti has no real desire to speed up the process."

That acceleration does not depend on mere desire has been evident for months at the Merdare border crossing. Trucks want to move faster, but they cannot.

"The scanners are still missing, and the congestion is growing," points out Agim Shahini, President of the Kosovo Business Alliance.

Few still believe that these long-promised devices will make a difference. Drivers are left with no choice but to wait, as one of them put it after 20 hours at the border:

"We hope, but our hopes don’t help!".