Vujinovic: OSCE has become the spokesperson for one side

The OSCE has become the spokesperson for only one side, and the election of Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani or the head of the mission in Serbia, Jan Bratu, as the new Secretary-General of the OSCE would be detrimental to the stability of the region, security studies researcher Nikola Vujinovic believes.

“In recent years, the OSCE has become the spokesperson for one side. It is a platform that was founded in Europe to preserve peace, but it has taken the side of one party in the conflict. Moreover, it treats the other side as if it were the enemy. I hope that the new candidate at the wider European level will try to restore trust in the OSCE, which has been lost for quite some time,” Vujinovic told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on the candidates for the new OSCE Secretary-General – the current head of this mission in Serbia, Jan Bratu, and Albanian Foreign Minister Igli Hasani – Vujinovic believes that the election of either of them would be negative for the region’s stability.

“Given who the candidates are and considering the regional relations between Serbia and the region, which essentially means relations in the Western Balkans, as all other actors in the Western Balkans are, let’s say, unanimous, while Serbia is the one that speaks with a different voice, the election of either the Albanian candidate or the representative of Norway would be negative for the region’s stability,” Vujinovic claims.

He believes that the Albanian and Dutch representatives would continue to implement policies that are not in Serbia's interest.

“On one hand, we could expect that the Albanian representative would continue to insist on further emancipation of Kosovo within broader European frameworks. Meanwhile, Bratu’s behavior as the OSCE representative in Serbia shows a very negative attitude toward Serbia, the Serbian political elite, and Serbian institutions. It is enough to look at his latest statements or meetings. I doubt he would behave differently if he were elected Secretary-General,” this expert says.

However, he believes that the head of the OSCE center in Ashgabat, John MacGregor from Canada, will be elected as Secretary-General.

“My guess is that it will be Mr. MacGregor from Canada because the current Secretary-General is from the European Union, a lady from Germany. Therefore, it is time for someone who is not from the EU, and the alternative candidate is Mr. Bratu from Norway. However, recently, Stoltenberg has either ceased or will soon cease to be the formal Secretary-General of NATO, and in these high-level foreign policy games, I think it is the right time for a non-European OSCE member to take the helm and bring some positive change,” Vujinovic concludes.