Pavkovic: Kurti is avoiding the CSM, could hand dialogue portfolio to coalition partner

Milos Pavkovic, Director of Strategy at the Center for European Policy, believes that, given that Kosovo's caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti is avoiding the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities, in a potential coalition government the dialogue portfolio could be assigned precisely to a coalition partner, who would then bear responsibility for the agreements whose implementation Kurti is avoiding.

Pavkovic recalls that Kurti has opposed the establishment of the CSM since coming to power.

“It is no secret that Kurti is a major opponent of this arrangement, which was agreed back in 2013, then revisited in 2015, and most recently addressed through the 2023 normalization agreement. Since entering the political arena, he has strongly opposed all these arrangements. Since coming to power, he has tried in every possible way to avoid this obligation,” Pavkovic told Kosovo Online.

He points out that, although recent visits by international representatives, such as Marta Kos and Antonio Costa, have indicated that the future Kosovo government will face significant pressure when it comes to implementing this obligation, Kurti is using delaying tactics and dragging out the constitution of the Assembly because the caretaker mandate suits him.

In the event of a coalition government, Pavkovic explains, the portfolio concerning the chief negotiator and dialogue with Belgrade could be handed precisely to Self-Determination's coalition partner.

“The coalition partner would then bear responsibility for everything that happens, while Kurti could, in a way, wash his hands of it and preserve his political position of opposing the creation of the CSM, and in some future government blame the coalition partners for it,” Pavkovic concluded.