Subotic: In the European Council, decisions are made unanimously, without any turns, and for Orban to become its head

The resignation of Charles Michel from the position of the President of the European Council, announced due to his intention to run in the upcoming EU elections in June, as well as the potential appointment of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to that position, will not significantly affect the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Serbia's European path, or the Western Balkans in general, according to Strahinja Subotic from the Center for European Policy.

Subotic tells Kosovo Online that this is the first time the President of the European Council has announced his resignation before completing his term, which, he adds, is a significant problem since the position was created with the intention of lasting longer than others.

"He was supposed to lead that institution until December, until the formation of the European Parliament and the new European Commission. His resignation changes that dynamic. It is true that, according to the rules of the procedure, Viktor Orban will take over the European Council, i.e., he will come to its helm, considering that Hungary takes over the presidency of the EU in the summer. However, Council members, i.e., member states, can prevent this with a majority. Unanimity is not required, and they can simply choose a new President of the European Council instead of Michel by December," Subotic says, emphasizing that it is still too early to conclude whether Orban will take over the position of President of the European Council.

Our interlocutor believes that the announced personnel changes in the EU will not have much, if any, impact on Serbia's path to the EU, the Western Balkans in general, and the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

"Charles Michel was the President of the European Council; have we heard about him in the context of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue? No. Simply put, he is at the helm of the most important EU institution, and Orban could be that, but they have so many other issues to deal with, not the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. We have the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the EU, Borrell, who deals with that issue, and the Special Envoy Miroslav Lajcak. That is the duo that matters when it comes to the dialogue. They communicate directly with Belgrade and Pristina, and, of course, with all EU institutions and member states. Whoever is at the helm of the European Council, I don't think in any way neither Belgrade nor Pristina should be encouraged or relaxed, but they should know that they are expected to implement everything they agreed upon in the previous period, from the Brussels Agreement to the Ohrid Agreement," Subotic emphasizes.

According to him, if Orban were to take over the position of President of the European Council, Belgrade would welcome it, given that strengthened relations have been built with Budapest lately.

"However, Orban currently does not have strong political capital in the EU. He is currently 'haggling' when it comes to Ukraine, wants to consider whether to unfreeze funds for Ukraine so that funds frozen due to democratic backsliding would be unfrozen for Hungary. Regardless of whether Orban takes over the presidency of the European Council or not, during the Hungarian presidency, there will certainly be no discussion about the application of the so-called Kosovo for EU membership. Second, when it comes to visa liberalization, that will remain in force. Hungary, whether it likes it or not, will not be able to change that. Third, we see that there are still restrictive measures towards Pristina. Again, a unanimous decision is made, and I believe Hungary would continue to insist that, as long as Pristina does not implement the Community of Serb Municipalities, these measures should not be lifted," Subotic says.

He adds that this is not something specific to Orban but a general sentiment in the EU that Pristina has a significant portion of its obligations to fulfill to gain additional benefits on its path to the EU.