A Year of Unfulfilled Agreements

Written by Dragan Bisenic for Kosovo online

The year 2023 is ending with two very interesting debates sparked by seemingly incidental remarks. After Vjosa Osmani appointed Vasfije Krasniqi as her special envoy for wartime sexual violence, Richard Grenell accused the newly appointed envoy of being "reckless" in spreading false news about Americans and Serbs. This move by Vjosa Osmani, intended to have long-term and strategic consequences, did not go without a reaction.

Grenell explained that she spread news that he was paid by the Serbian side, and he expanded his view by stating that, in his opinion, "Kurti is the problem," concluding that Kosovo was "much safer and more secure before he became prime minister." Grenell further stated that the international community does not approve of his "unilateral tactics" and that Kurti has created a "volatile situation." Overall, the world sees that the situation is worsening, while Grenell praised Thaci and Vucic for making progress, and himself for applying equal "pressure" to both sides.

The second debate on the Kosovo side was triggered by the Serbian Foreign Minister, Ivica Dacic, revealing that the German Foreign Minister asked him how they managed to "deceive" Thaci into signing the Brussels Agreement that no Kosovo prime minister wants to fulfill. Both of these debates essentially speak to one thing – how this year is ending and what the next year will bring.

The year that has just concluded did not fulfill the numerous expectations of those who believed it would be decisive in cementing Kosovo's statehood. It began in February with the presentation of the Franco-German plan for the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels. Two weeks later, an addendum (annex) to the implementation of this agreement was attached in Ohrid. It was believed at that time that everything would be concluded by autumn, and this agreement would be signed. At the end of the year, it is clear that these plans have not been realized, and the fate of the entire arrangement is highly uncertain. Therefore, in December, there were proposals to incorporate the obligations from the agreement on the path to normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia, including the annex, into European processes related to Kosovo.

In the draft conclusions from the ministerial meeting, Miroslav Lajcak, the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, was asked to update the agenda of the next Kosovo Special Group for normalization to reflect Kosovo's obligations arising from the agreement and its Implementation Annex. For Serbia, this would mean that the obligations from these agreements would become an integral part of the negotiation framework in the EU accession process, specifically in Chapter 35 related to foreign policy. After Belgrade's clear refusal to discuss this at all, this topic was abandoned. However, February 27, 2024, will mark the anniversary of the launch of this document, which has so far yielded almost no results.

When Grenell speaks of Kurti's "unilateral moves," he likely refers to events in May of this year, which were a turning point for the current state of Kosovo and the likely failure of the dialogue on the so-called "normalization of relations" between Belgrade and Pristina. At that time, after unnecessarily holding fictitious local elections in northern Kosovo in which Serbs did not participate, Kosovo's special police violently entered municipal buildings, took them over, and installed mayors who, due to the absence of any legitimacy, play the role of colonial administrators. They not only ridicule any form of democracy in Kosovo but also prevent even the appearance of the possibility of reaching an agreement on normalization. Since then and in the following months until today, numerous conclusions have been adopted, calling for mayors to be moved to different buildings, to resign for new local elections to be organized, and to perform only technical functions that have no substantive importance. In all this, the American side has been at the forefront, with U.S. Ambassador to Pristina Jeffrey Hovenier being particularly engaged. During those weeks, questions were raised on the American side about whether the Kosovo Prime Minister was still an American partner or not, and strong words were not spared by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In this sense, nothing has changed to this day, and not even a millimeter of progress has been recorded. Mayors are in the same place they were, Kosovo police and special forces are deployed in northern Kosovo, and there is no mention of the removal of mayors or new elections. In Pristina, it is believed that this is the real state of affairs and that everything should remain that way. Moreover, municipalities are allocating land for the Kosovo police, while entire spa complexes are requisitioned at the same time. Not only are the agreements made ten years ago, such as the Brussels Agreement and provisions on the Community of Serb Municipalities, not being fulfilled, but the same is happening with agreements that were practically reached a few months ago. In this atmosphere, it is really difficult, almost impossible, to expect Serbia to agree to a new agreement in which only it fulfills its obligations, or where it will be considered necessary for only it to fulfill those obligations.

In the fall, in this regard, Josep Borrell bitterly concluded that there was no trace of readiness on the Kosovo side to implement the agreement on the Community of Serbian Municipalities. When the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, officially confirmed the failure of this round involving Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovo Metohija Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and EU representatives Borrell and Miroslav Lajcak in September, he stated that "Kurti was not ready to move forward and start forming the Community of Serbian Municipalities, instead insisting that de facto recognition be established as the first step. President Vucic accepted our proposal," emphasized Borrell. The EU's chief diplomat regretfully noted that there was "no progress" in de-escalating the situation in northern Kosovo and reminded that all 27 EU members had called for urgent steps in that direction. Pointing out that both sides must fulfill what they have committed to so far, Borrell reiterated that the Community of Serbian Municipalities is an old obligation for both sides and represents a key element crucial for the implementation of the agreed-upon to finally begin.

Even after the presentation of the European concept of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, nothing has happened, nor has there been any willingness to change that. Since then, there has been no movement. The truth is that Kosovo has gained visa liberalization from tomorrow, and that is also with the consent of Serbia. Serbia added one more accommodating step since a few days ago, allowing free movement to all Kosovo license plates. This means that vehicles with plates that Kosovo considers official will be able to move on Serbian roads, indicating that visa liberalization for Kosovo will have a much fuller, or real, meaning. This is just one of several "gentlemanly moves" from Belgrade that could prompt Pristina to reciprocate in building trust. However, this has not happened, nor is it happening.

European and American officials obviously see where all this is leading. Hence, the appropriate New Year's greetings and waving of champagne have been missing. Instead of a celebratory atmosphere, there is only genuine and real concern.