Stiplija: I don't see room for anyone to prevent the agreements from the dialogue with Pristina from entering Chapter 35

Director of the Center for Contemporary Politics and editor of the European Western Balkans portal, Nemanja Todorovic Stiplija, says that all significant agreements reached in the dialogue with Pristina have been included in negotiating Chapter 35 within the framework of Serbia's accession negotiations with the European Union, and there was no possibility for the latest agreements, which he considers crucial for the EU, to be outside that chapter.

“I see no room for anyone from the outside, as expected from Hungary, to prevent any agreements from the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue from entering Chapter 35. Every time we had important negotiations from 2013 to 2015, all those agreements we reached were included in this chapter, and there was no possibility for these latest agreements, which seem to be the most important for the EU, to be outside Chapter 35", Todorovic Stiplija says for Kosovo Online, regarding the European Council's request for the European Commission to propose amendments to the criteria of negotiating Chapter 35 by the end of January, reflecting the obligations arising from the Brussels Agreement of February this year and its Ohrid Annex.

He adds that Chapter 35, concerning Belgrade and Pristina, is one of those that condition Serbia's further progress in EU integrations.

"In the negotiating framework that Serbia accepted in 2014, all matters related to the rule of law from Chapters 23 and 24, along with Chapter 35 concerning Belgrade and Pristina, are conditions for Serbia's further progress in EU integrations. These three chapters are blocking chapters and can block Serbia's path to the EU if it does not meet the criteria set out in them. Chapter 35 is one of the most important for Serbia, along with chapters in the field of the rule of law, which are also worked on very little. This would mean that if Serbia does not fulfill the provisions entered from the agreements of Ohrid and Brussels into Chapter 35, it will not be able to expect the opening of new negotiating chapters or clusters in the coming period", Todorovic Stiplija explains.

He believes that the next six months will be a turning point in the negotiations between Serbia and the EU.

"I think that the next period between January and June, until the new EU Council, will be the most significant for the negotiations between Serbia and the EU because, during this period, we will see whether Serbia is ready to take over its obligations or not. Here we have a situation to see if Chapter 35, with its criteria that will be inserted into it, will be one of the blocking chapters. If Serbia does not make any positive steps in that direction, negotiations will most likely stall", Todorovic Stiplija says.