Celic: Essential autonomy needed for Kosovo Serbs, CSM topic no longer relevant

Assistant professor at the Faculty of Law in North Mitrovica, Dusko Celic, stated that essential autonomy is of crucial importance for the Serbian community in Kosovo, as events have shown that the Community of Serb Municipalities would not provide sufficient institutional guarantees for their survival and the protection of basic human rights.

"I believe that recent events, especially over the past three years, have demonstrated that the CSM is no longer a relevant topic for several reasons. The continuous, systematic actions of Pristina towards Serbs, which contain elements of apartheid and are discriminatory in the full sense, have shown that even the CSM would not be a sufficient institutional guarantee for the survival of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija or for the protection of their basic human rights," Celic told Kosovo Online.

For this reason, he believes that former US Ambassador to Belgrade William Montgomery's initiative to condition the continuation of dialogue on the formation of the CSM is no longer relevant.

"I would rather say that, given the changes in the US administration, the time is ripe to initiate discussions on new collective mechanisms for protecting the human rights of Serbs. I primarily mean essential autonomy, which Serbs should seek, some form of combination of territorial and personal protection of their rights in Kosovo and Metohija," Celic specified.

He is convinced that such a demand could be legally supported by UN Security Council Resolution 1244.

"According to Resolution 1244, essential autonomy for Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia was envisaged, which was certainly meant to secure the collective rights of Albanians. Logically, it would make sense for Serbs to seek essential autonomy within Kosovo and Metohija without touching on status issues. That logic, I believe, is relevant in the current context, especially since Kurti's actions over the past three years have completely discredited the idea of the CSM, making it an inadequate framework for protecting Serbian rights at this moment," Celic emphasized.

Asked how acceptable the proposal of "essential autonomy" for Serbs in Kosovo would be to the Albanian side, the law professor argued that there is neither a legal nor moral basis to deny it.

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

He is convinced that such a proposal would also be well received by the new US administration.

"This idea could be carefully considered in Washington. The discussion about essential autonomy for Serbs could influence a shift in US policy regarding collective mechanisms for protecting the human rights of Serbs in Kosovo," Celic stated.

Asked how the European Union would react to a request for essential autonomy for Serbs, Celic said 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 Pristina’s interests than as a facilitator, someone meant to ease dialogue. The same applies to the entire EU. The pressure was primarily on Belgrade, not Pristina. The EU’s responses to Pristina’s discriminatory actions were mostly verbal, so we cannot expect an initially positive reaction from them. However, we must not forget that, although an informal participant, the US is in fact a key actor in these negotiations. Therefore, the success of future talks will depend primarily on Washington, not the Brussels process. I believe the US will play a decisive role, and the EU will have no choice but to adapt to that position," Celic concluded.