Vujinovic: Further EU integration of Kosovo is not possible without considering the regulation of relations with Belgrade

Security studies researcher Nikola Vujinovic says that, from the perspective of European integration, it is impossible to assess Kosovo’s overall progress towards the EU separately from the dialogue with Belgrade. If Kosovo were granted candidate status for EU membership, he believes that negotiating Chapter 35 for Kosovo would concern the Brussels dialogue, that is, monitoring the implementation of agreements reached in the process of normalizing relations with Belgrade.

Statements by representatives of Pristina calling for Kosovo to be allowed to advance in the integration process independently of Serbia are, Vujinovic points out, intended for domestic political purposes, since there has been no progress in European integration.

“Five EU member states do not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, and therefore a prerequisite for its entry into European integration is for it to be recognized. And these five states, particularly Spain, do not want to recognize Kosovo until Serbia recognizes it. Therefore, it makes no sense to talk about further European integration without considering the issue of the dialogue process, in terms of how Serbia and Kosovo will regulate their future relations,” Vujinovic told Kosovo Online.

As he adds, the “most amusing thing” about the statements by representatives of Pristina is that they believe that, if they were to enter the European integration process, they have already met some of the criteria.

“That is simply not true. In other words, meeting the requirements of the Growth Plan, where Kosovo is lagging behind not only because of the institutional crisis but also because of its institutional inability to resolve issues concerning the rule of law, property, minority communities, above all the Serbian community, and the constant violence against the Serbian community, are all obstacles that are just as serious as the dialogue,” he says.

He also notes that Chapter 35 in EU accession negotiations is essentially a chapter covering all issues not addressed by the other 34 chapters, which is why he believes that Kosovo, should it reach that stage, would be assigned Chapter 35, which would concern the dialogue with Belgrade.

“Especially because the European Union is the guarantor of the Brussels Agreement, the Ohrid Agreement and all the agreements reached since 2013. Therefore, the European Union could not bypass this as a matter of its own acquis communautaire. Not to mention that filling out the Questionnaire would bring many other issues onto the agenda, and I think this is simply an attempt to mislead the domestic public, because Mr. Kurti is currently playing on two tracks. The first is: he will manage to reach an agreement with the opposition and there will be no elections. The second is: I am preparing for new elections. And so this topic was raised for July, because there was a major summit in Brussels at the time concerning candidate countries, so now we will wait until September. This is all election campaigning in Kosovo and Metohija,” Vujinovic assesses.