Arifi on the dialogue: There is no escaping the agreements Kosovo has signed

Former Kosovo ambassador Avni Arifi stated that the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has been in a “clinical death” state since September 2024, but that after the formation of new institutions, there will be increased international pressure to continue the dialogue and implement Kosovo’s obligations. There is no escaping the agreements Kosovo has signed, he pointed out.

In an interview with Ekonomia Online, Avni Arifi said that the international community had not exerted pressure on Kosovo regarding the dialogue precisely because of the lack of functional institutions.

“The dialogue has been in clinical death since September 2024, when preparations for elections at that time began in some way. Since then, Kosovo has not had legitimate institutions capable of conducting negotiations. And that is the reason why the international factor has not dealt much with the topic of dialogue and has not pressured the Kosovo side regarding the dialogue,” he said.

He stated that, from the perspective of the international community, dialogue can only be conducted with legitimate institutions.

“In order for there to be dialogue, there must be legitimate institutions from their perspective. We did not have legitimate institutions, we had election winners, we had, for a very short period, a prime minister who won the elections, until the end of Vjosa Osmani’s mandate. But from a democratic perspective, dialogue on such processes can only be conducted with legitimate institutions. We did not have legitimate institutions in the sense of having functional institutions, a government, a parliament, and a president elected with full legitimacy,” Arifi said.

According to him, there had been readiness for a meeting between caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, but the snap elections prevented that meeting from taking place.

“That is what Ms. Kaja Kallas said, that during the period when Kosovo’s government was being formed, the goal was to organize a meeting between Vucic and Kurti, which both sides agreed to, both Vucic and Kurti, and that it was only a matter of setting a date. However, going to snap elections now makes such a meeting impossible because, regardless of the election results, we are in an electoral process and in such a situation it is impossible to conduct a dialogue process. There has been no real dialogue process for two years. Many people, I believe even on Kurti’s side, think that this is good because obligations are being postponed, that Kosovo may be avoiding obligations arising from international agreements. But that is completely wrong logic. There is no escaping the international agreements Kosovo has signed. And when I say Kosovo, I mean all previous presidents and prime ministers, including the current prime minister. No one can avoid any international agreement. They think and try to present to the public that this can be avoided, but we will see what happens. However, delays in implementation do not make Kosovo’s position in those agreements easier, they only make it more difficult,” he said.

He warned that, after the formation of new institutions, there would be increased international pressure to continue the dialogue and implement Kosovo’s obligations.

“That is certain. Whoever becomes prime minister, within the first two weeks Sorensen will come here again together with Kaja Kallas and organize a meeting, either with Vucic or not necessarily with Vucic, but there will be extremely strong pressure to implement the obligations Kosovo has in the dialogue process. That is something everyone knows,” Arifi said.

Arifi added that Kosovo must be prepared and more active in the dialogue process, insisting on issues related to the events in Banjska and other security incidents.

“Kosovo must be prepared. Kosovo must insist. There is the issue of the crime in Banjska. The terrorists must be brought to justice. Then there are also the cases on the Ibar River, there must be judicial proceedings against all the people who participated in terrorist acts. Kosovo has an agenda of demands that are necessary, and in which Serbia is an obstacle. There is also the issue of Serbia’s lobbying, as well as the issue of Kosovo’s membership in international organizations. There is a series of issues in which Kosovo should not only defend itself from demands that come and place us in a very difficult position, but regardless of the circumstances, Kosovo must always be ready to be active and prepared in the dialogue process,” he said.