Krasniqi: A new approach to the dialogue with the reformatting of chapters into a single final package

University professor and security expert Kole Krasniqi told Kosovo Online that, in the interest of unblocking and successfully concluding the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, the international community should establish clear and serious consequences for the non-implementation of the reached agreements, including freezing Serbia’s negotiation chapters, conditioning EU funds, and imposing punitive political and diplomatic measures on the parties to the dialogue in a symmetrical manner.

Krasniqi assesses that the dialogue has entered its deepest phase of stagnation in the past decade, as a result of structural factors such as the lack of trust between the sides, the lack of effective pressure from EU mediators, differing interpretations of the agreements, and the absence of initiative and genuine political will for compromise.

“It seems that the current model of dialogue has failed, because the EU has apparently lost its role as a neutral mediator, both in Belgrade and in Pristina. Serbia treats the dialogue as a technical process, while Kosovo sees it as a political one. On the other hand, agreements are not being implemented and there are no penalties for violators. Since the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has now been reduced to crisis management, a completely new approach should be applied, including reformatting the dialogue chapters into a single final package, with a clear final goal that will be the de facto recognition of Kosovo or normalization according to the Franco-German model and Serbia’s acceptance of Kosovo’s legal reality,” Krasniqi says.

Regarding the issue of the Community of Serb Municipalities, in his view it should be addressed with mediation and guarantees from major European powers that the establishment of a parallel authority will not be allowed, and that it will be implemented “only after the dismantling of illegal structures in the north and in the form of reciprocity – Serbs in Kosovo, as well as Albanians in Serbia.”

“In this context, any mediation approach, including that of Mr. Sorensen, should be based on binding mechanisms, not merely symbolic compromise,” the professor argues.

Krasniqi does not believe that new momentum would be created in the dialogue if the EU were to lift its punitive measures on Kosovo and open new negotiation chapters for Serbia in the EU accession process.

“Such a proposal is not balanced and does not contribute to genuine normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia, but instead aims only to maximize benefits for Serbia without addressing the causes of the dialogue’s stagnation. This proposal also ignores the fact that Kosovo was sanctioned because of events in the north, while Serbia has systematically violated agreements. Moreover, this proposal demands no responsibility from Belgrade, does not propose reciprocal measures, and does not mention the dismantling of illegal structures in northern Kosovo, but merely expands the narrative of ‘status quo plus’ for Serbia, which strengthens its internal position without bringing real progress either in Serbia or in Kosovo,” Krasniqi concludes.