Ivkovic: Rome increasingly active in Serbia-Kosovo negotiations, but not outside EU politics

Since Giorgia Meloni took over as the Prime Minister of Italy, there have been no special signals that she will work outside the EU and US policies when it comes to the Kosovo issue, even during her recent visit to Belgrade, messages were heard regarding the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue that are 'in line' with Brussels and Washington, Aleksandar Ivkovic from the Center for Contemporary Politics, says commenting on the possibility of Rome getting more involved to unlock the negotiation and normalization process.

"It is true that Italy, as a part of the Quint, has joined the negotiations, and that Meloni, in Brussels in October, joined French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in demanding that Serbia and Kosovo fulfill what they agreed upon in Brussels and Ohrid, which includes the so-called de facto recognition of Kosovo by Serbia. So, we see greater involvement, but at least I don't see any signs that there will be a change in the direction of Italian policy compared to the rest of Europe and the West", Ivkovic says for Kosovo Online.

He recalls that many expected when Meloni took power in Italy that there would be some serious changes in foreign policy, but that did not happen, and she remained firmly on the side of NATO and other Western partners.

"Italy is important both as a country that currently contributes the largest contingent to KFOR and as one of the largest EU countries in the Serbia-Kosovo negotiation process to achieve EU unity. It seems to me that we see that unity present and that Italy does not deviate too much from it. Whether this policy will succeed in unlocking the negotiations, we will have to wait until the end of the elections in Serbia, first and foremost, but after that, there are also elections in the EU, so the deadlines are very short, and we will hardly see much progress in the next six months", Ivkovic believes.