Pavkovic: Both Pristina and Belgrade are hoping for changes in the EU and the US that would strengthen their positions in the dialogue

Researcher at the Center for European Policy, Milos Pavkovic, says that both Belgrade and Pristina are waiting for political changes that could potentially occur after the elections in the European Union and the United States, and therefore they do not want to engage more actively in the dialogue and the implementation of agreements because they hope that these changes would strengthen their position and thus change something in the dialogue and the balance of power between Serbia and Kosovo.

"We have a serious deadlock in the dialogue. After the breakthrough with the Ohrid Agreement, which was a step in the right direction in terms of normalizing relations, we have had more than a year of constant crises, tensions, and unilateral moves by both sides, which fundamentally jeopardize the implementation of the agreement itself and its fate. We had the example of the Washington Agreement from 2020, which faded into the background, and it seems that now there is a danger that the Ohrid Agreement will also remain a dead letter. I think that is the main concern of the EU and Miroslav Lajcak – that although they managed to bring the two sides to an agreement, it will remain just a piece of paper. It seems to me that the goal of the dialogue rounds held this and last month was for the EU to save the agreement that was reached and to prevent its oblivion," Pavkovic says.

He adds that this will be a difficult task that will depend on geopolitical changes on the ground and on the political will of Belgrade and Pristina to seriously engage in dialogue.

"Miroslav Lajcak's mandate expires at the end of August, and at the beginning of June, we have elections for the European Parliament, the administration in Brussels is slowly dissolving and entering the campaign and technical mandate, their hands are tied, and they will not want to and will not have the legitimacy to deal with major issues. Accordingly, the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is on standby," Pavkovic says.