Stevic: Belgrade would not consider the possibility of the CSM being limited only to the north

Journalist from North Mitrovica Lazar Stevic believes that Belgrade would not consider the option for only municipalities in the north of Kosovo to be included in the Community of Serb Municipalities, and he assesses that such a scenario would not suit Albin Kurti either, because he wants to completely avoid the formation of the CSM.

Belgrade, he emphasizes, persistently repeats that the CSM must be formed exactly as agreed in the Brussels Agreement and the Ohrid Annex, and in no other way.

The idea of a CSM limited to only four municipalities in the north was put forward by DPK MP Xhavit Haliti, and Stevic believes this is a matter of testing public reaction to such a proposal.

He notes that the Community of Serb Municipalities is a painful topic for everyone in Pristina and that there are attempts to downgrade it to the level of a non-governmental organization.

“What official Belgrade must focus on is demanding what was signed and agreed in the Brussels Agreement. The CSM must be implemented in full, not only in the north, but across the entire territory of Kosovo. That means four municipalities in the north, six in the south, a total of ten, where Serbs would have some degree of autonomy, because only through the formation of that Community can we think about any future and survival in these areas,” Stevic told Kosovo Online.

As he points out, Albin Kurti, even while in opposition, publicly and clearly stated that he would never form the CSM, even after coming to power, and he has been confirming this stance since taking office.

“He constantly repeats that it is harmful to Kosovo, and he will not even send the draft statute to the Constitutional Court for review, despite pressure from the international community to expedite the process. He continues to avoid the topic,” Stevic says.

The international community, he believes, must take matters into its own hands more concretely.

“I do not know how much the dialogue in Brussels, and primarily Sorensen, can encourage Pristina to do this. However, we are all aware that other international actors, such as the United States, can exert enormous pressure on Albin Kurti so that the issue of the CSM finally comes onto the agenda and is formed. This is what the Serb List demands and what official Belgrade has been repeating for more than ten years, that the CSM is a dead letter on paper and must be activated, and that this should be a condition for continuing the dialogue. Otherwise, if Kurti is allowed to set this aside, an even more difficult period truly awaits the Serbs who have remained living in these areas,” our interlocutor assesses.