Kasapoli: As long as Kosovo plays “hide and seek,” EU measures will remain in force

Political analyst Gezim Kasapoli stated that the EU measures against Kosovo will not be lifted as long as the authorities in Pristina continue “playing hide and seek.” He expects that this will happen only after the local elections, stressing that the authorities in Pristina themselves gave Brussels reason to maintain the sanctions.

“We gave the EU a reason to continue these measures because we haven’t moved from our position for two years, and on the other hand, the Serbian population hasn’t shifted from theirs either. We’re in a kind of stalemate,” Kasapoli told Kosovo Online.

He is convinced that the EU’s punitive measures will not be lifted until these issues start being resolved, which, in his opinion, is possible through new local elections and the formation of a new government.

“Until then, no country will request or insist that the measures be lifted, because neither we nor the local Serbs have met a single condition set by the countries of the international community,” Kasapoli said.

He added that it is always much harder to lift sanctions than to impose them, and that Kosovo faces the problem of these measures being insisted on by countries that supported its independence.

“It’s easy to impose measures, but difficult to revoke them. In principle, we don’t have problems with countries that haven’t recognized us. That’s not the issue. The problem lies with countries that supported our independence, but are still not convinced that Kosovo wants and is able to meet the requirements those countries have. I believe it will be hard to convince them—especially now when we don’t even have a parliament or a government, and we’re playing ‘hide and seek’—to decide to lift the measures against Kosovo,” Kasapoli emphasized.

He is convinced that the measures will be lifted only after local elections, especially in areas with a majority Serb population.

“We have to wait until we go through the process of parliamentary and local elections, to see that the Serbian population is participating in those elections and that they will assume power in the municipalities where they are the majority,” Kasapoli pointed out.

He added that this implies that representatives of the Serbian community must return to the positions they previously held.

“What we’re seeing now is that this past government is unwilling to compromise. And currently, we have people in office in those municipalities who do not represent the majority of the population, and that is a major problem,” the analyst explained.