Barac: EU lacks capacity; peaceful and sustainable solution only through agreement between the two peoples

Srdjan Barac, an associate of the Center for Social Stability, says that the current outcome of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina has shown that the European Union does not have the capacity to moderate this type of dialogue and that the only way to achieve a permanent and sustainable solution is through direct negotiations and agreement between Serbs and Albanians.

"The only way to truly achieve a peaceful and permanently sustainable solution is for the nations to agree. The greatest capability of today is precisely that we can talk, to discuss what we can discuss, and to set aside what we cannot at this moment," Barac stated for Kosovo Online.

He adds that all nations in the region face similar problems and that the cooperation Serbia has with Albania and its Prime Minister Edi Rama has shown that a better quality of life for citizens should be the dominant political idea for all leaders.

"There is much that divides us, but we have seen with the Albanians, primarily with Edi Rama, that we have managed to find a way to talk because we all have similar problems – issues with the flow of goods, people, capital... The idea to make life better for citizens is something that should be the dominant political idea for all politicians in the world, and it should be the same for the representatives of the Serbian and Albanian people," Barac said.

However, he believes that this is currently difficult to achieve, and he sees the key reason in the irrational policies of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who, he claims, is pursuing a policy that is not in the interest of the Albanian people in Kosovo.

"It is not in the interest of the Albanian people in Kosovo to be in constant tension, chaos, and fear, even fear of external intervention. Albin Kurti has begun to slowly irritate his inspirers, motivators, financiers, and sponsors. He is slowly irritating them, it is not yet as drastic as we might expect or as it should be, but it is irritating them. I believe that even the representatives of the Albanian people living in Kosovo and Metohija feel this," Barac said.

He adds that this Western intervention would primarily involve new economic pressures, as Kosovo would not be able to survive without financial support for more than a few months.

Barac assesses that dialogue between the two nations is the only solution because it has been shown that the EU, due to its involvement in the entire process, does not have the capacity to moderate the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

"Considering that we are on the European path, we cooperate with the European Union, but it has been shown that the EU does not have the capacity to moderate such a dialogue. It has been seen that when someone moderates a dialogue but is actually an involved party, a party that already has a predetermined notion of what should be done, they cannot truly moderate to reach an agreement, a permanent and sustainable solution, but rather the opposite," Barac believes.

He says that the behavior of the EU is not the only thing distancing us from peace and sustainable coexistence, but also the representatives of the Albanian political elites.

"The Serbian side is constantly under pressure, our politicians are constantly pressured, even though we see that Albin Kurti is the irrational side. We also see that representatives of the Albanian political elites in Kosovo and Metohija are doing everything that distances us from peace and sustainable coexistence. That is why the European Union has lost its capacity and why the nations need to come to an agreement. I believe it is in the interest of both the Albanian and Serbian people living in Kosovo and Metohija, and for us who do not live in Kosovo and Metohija, to find a solution for coexistence, to talk without intermediaries who are already paid-off judges," Barac concluded.