Petritsch: The dialogue failed, the EU waited too long for Pristina to fulfill its obligation to form the CSM

The former European Union envoy for Kosovo, Wolfgang Petritsch, believes that the latest events in the north of Kosovo show that the dialogue has failed and that a new strategy is needed.

Petritsch told Kosovo Online that he was very worried about the current situation in the north of Kosovo.

"One must consider whether this is evidence that the dialogue has failed and that Brussels must develop a new strategy that would include conditionality and clear deadlines," he explained.

Petritsch emphasized that, if the process of forming the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities was not started soon, it could be said that the dialogue had failed and that the strategy would have to be changed.

"In the dialogue, both parties must fulfill their obligations. And ten years of failure to fulfill the obligation to form the CSM is too long," Petritsch underlined.
Petritsch added that it had been a mistake that the EU had waited too long for Pristina to fulfill that request.

"Ten years ago, the goodwill of the participants in the dialogue was counted on. Now the EU must admit that it waited too long to fulfill its obligations," he is convinced.

Petritsch pointed out that a new strategy was needed, the focus of which would be the implementation with clear deadlines, because that was currently missing in the dialogue.