Lindsey: There are two possible solutions for Kosovo, division or strong autonomy for the Serbian community

London School of Economics and Politics Professor James-Ker Lindsay told the European Western Balkans portal that there were two possible solutions to the Kosovo issue, division or strong autonomy for the Serbian community, although it was regrettable that there were voices against both solutions, Danas reports.

"My view is that, while I am deeply concerned about how Kosovo declared independence, ultimately any normalization process, or whatever we want to call it, will have to see Serbia accept an independent Kosovo. What we saw in 2008 - It was a deeply unfair, poorly managed process, and there was no real attempt to “sell” Serbia the idea of an independent Kosovo," Lindsey said.

According to him, no effort was made to find a workable compromise.

"Now, when everything has been said, I believe that it is in everyone's interest to move on. An independent Kosovo is not only good for Kosovo, but also for Serbia. The question is, how can Serbia accept it? It is a key question that I think is not being solved," Lindsay suggested.

Lindsay assessed that the rumored two-Germany model could not work.

"That model foresees that Serbia accepts Kosovo in the United Nations, but does not recognize it as an independent state. Frankly, that has no value for Serbia," Lindsey said.

He believes that it would be better for Serbia to just accept the independence of Kosovo, than to accept the model according to which Kosovo is recognized by the rest of the world, only not by Serbia, because in that case, it looks "miserable and rather stupid".

Lindsey pointed out that an opportunity had been missed a few years ago when there had been an "interesting dialogue" between President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and when Berlin and London had rejected some "interesting ideas that were on the table".

I knew there had been frustrations in Belgrade and Pristina - and rightly so, added Lindsey, who states that some kind of compromise between the two sides will be necessary.

I think the reality is that it will end with the independence of Kosovo, so we need to see what can be offered to Serbia to accept it. There are two obvious options, Lindsay points out, citing division and autonomy for the Kosovo Serbs as solutions.

"The division can be made official by agreed border demarcation or in the way it is in the case of Northern Ireland. It is a situation in which the north of Kosovo is under the control of Serbia and everyone must accept that - this is the reality on the ground," he stressed.

If that was not an option, said Lindsey, the alternative was to establish some kind of autonomy for the Kosovo Serbs, or in other words, the realization of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities.
What is unfortunate is that you have voices that want to prevent both options. People say we cannot have territorial adjustments. OK, but let's look at the options that will give the Serbs significant autonomy within Kosovo, something that Belgrade is ready to accept.

Then you had others saying that it was against the constitution. It was as if they didn't want or weren't interested in a sustainable solution, he said.