Vladisavljev: Sorensen must find a way to revitalize the dialogue

Stefan Vladisavljev, Program Coordinator at the BFPE Foundation for a Responsible Society, believes that the new EU envoy, Peter Sorensen, will have to find a way to revitalize the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina at the start of his mandate, as well as to implement the agreements signed so far. However, he says that Sorensen also faces uncertainty regarding who the actors in this process will be.

"After making the usual welcome phone calls, he will have to reassure everyone that he is dedicated to the dialogue process, which is his sole task in this mandate. Unlike Lajcak, his focus is not the entire Western Balkans, but solely the dialogue process. I expect that he will sit in his office and carefully consider how to revitalize the dialogue process, given that it has been stagnant for a long time and has not yielded any concrete results," Vladisavljev told Kosovo Online.

He believes that the starting point should be the agreements already reached.

"There is quite a bit that has already been written down on paper. The question is how feasible it is to implement such things," Vladisavljev noted.

He is convinced that the topics of Sorensen’s first discussions with relevant actors from Belgrade and Pristina will involve returning to the initial negotiation points: the Ohrid Agreement, the Implementation Agreement, and the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

"These are prerequisites for any further progress, both in the dialogue process and in the broader process of normalization," Vladisavljev emphasized.

He warns that a key issue for continuing the dialogue is determining who will actually lead it.

"There are many unknowns regarding the actors currently involved in the dialogue process. We are waiting for the election results in Pristina to see who will actually be the interlocutor from that side. Will the same political faction remain in charge, or will someone new potentially take over? On the other hand, in Belgrade, societal issues are currently in focus, along with political tensions caused by protests following the collapse of a canopy and the tragic deaths of 15 people in November," Vladisavljev explained.

Because of this, he believes, neither Pristina nor Belgrade currently have the dialogue as a priority.

"One of Sorensen’s tasks will be to bring the dialogue back into focus, to assess the level of political will on both sides to implement these agreements. And if the political will is insufficient, he must find certain mechanisms, not coercive ones, but mechanisms that will motivate the actors to constructively engage in implementing the agreements and advancing the normalization process," Vladisavljev stressed.

So far, conditioning progress with European integration has been, as he emphasizes, the "main lever of power."

"For a long time, the main lever of power was the prospect of EU membership. What will now be a task not just for Sorensen, but for the entire EU infrastructure, is to convince the actors that this remains a relevant leverage point and to clearly outline the goals that need to be achieved, both short-term and long-term. These should then be seamlessly integrated into the normalization process, as history has shown that progress is most successful when there is a 'light at the end of the tunnel' to strive for. Moreover, it is crucial to have clear and concrete measures for both sides in the implementation process. Defining and clearly presenting these measures will be his priority," Vladisavljev concluded.