Kllokoqi: Good relations between Italy, Serbia, and Kosovo are not helpful; the dialogue is a significant political issue

Selatin Kllokoqi from Democracy Plus assesses that no one except Belgrade and Pristina can help unfreeze the dialogue process, provided that both sides genuinely want it, given the upcoming elections in Serbia and Kosovo next year.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently visited Belgrade and emphasized Italy's support for the dialogue process, working towards the realization of all commitments undertaken by the parties.

When asked if Italy or any other EU country could influence the thawing of the dialogue process, our interlocutor believes that only Serbia and Kosovo, and possibly the US and the EU, can contribute to resolving this issue.

"Italy is involved in the process, along with other countries, but I don't believe it can help the process. Pristina and Belgrade can help the dialogue the most, if they don't want it, no one can help. If we look from the other side, the only ones who can help unfreeze the dialogue are the US and the EU", Kllokoqi said for Kosovo Online.

As he added, elections in Serbia and Kosovo would have a significant impact on the dialogue process, or its restart. It seems that the currently frozen state of the dialogue is most suitable for everyone, according to Kllokoqi.

"Italy has good relations with Serbia and Kosovo, but that is not helpful because the dialogue is a significant political issue. Internally, we now have elections in Serbia, next year in Kosovo, and after that in the US. It seems like the time has come when no one can help, and we have to wait for everything to finish to see who will come to power and how, whether anyone can do something", Kllokoqi added.

He believes that the pressure from the Quint countries does not affect Belgrade and Pristina.

"The pressure, letters from the Quint, and meetings do not affect Belgrade and Pristina; they have never yielded results. Someone else from Brussels always had to come. We have a letter from the Quint calling on Pristina to start working on the statute of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, and Belgrade to implement other agreements. Still, it usually ends with one side saying we agreed, the other side saying they did not agree, and everything remains 'frozen'. I don't know who can really help move forward. It seems that, for now, everyone is content to leave it as it is", Kllokoqi emphasizes.

Regarding the meeting of EU country leaders next week in Brussels, Kllokoqi says that some message will certainly be sent to Kosovo, but it will not have a significant impact.

"A message will probably be sent to both Belgrade and Pristina, but it won't have an impact. Elections await us, so it's challenging to implement something significant in the dialogue. A small step can be taken, but nothing that will change the current situation in the dialogue", Kllokoqi concluded.