Without the Serb List, the elections in the north of Kosovo will not be legitimate and represent a risk

“Without the participation of the Serb List or the support of Belgrade, the upcoming elections in the north of Kosovo will not be legitimate and represent a risk,” was the conclusion of the participants of the discussion organized by the "Henry Jackson" society on the topic "Kosovo and Serbia - what's next".

The chance to reach an agreement on this very important issue had been missed in Ohrid, the rapporteur of the European Parliament for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon emphasized.

According to her, the non-participation of the Serb List is a destabilizing factor in the elections.

Von Cramon assessed that pressure should be exerted on Belgrade to give the green light for the participation of the Serbs in the elections in the north of Kosovo, and she expressed her readiness to exert pressure on Kosovo on other issues.

She emphasized that the decision of the Serbs to leave Kosovo's institutions had been wrong and represented a problem.

Publicist Tim Judah pointed out that after the election, an absurd situation would follow - Albanians would be elected, who would not have legitimacy because the Serbs would not participate in the voting.

The editor of Kossev, Tatjana Lazarevic, pointed out that the problem was the boycott of the elections, and that this would call into question their legitimacy.

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Petrit Selimi, said that he was worried because there had been no pressure in Ohrid to find a solution for the upcoming elections.

"We will have elections without clarity on who will represent the Kosovo Serbs in the north in the important process of establishing self-governance," he said.

He pointed out that the elections without the participation of the Serb List were legal by law, but would be a big challenge.

He expressed the hope that at the next meeting between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, a solution would be found in order to achieve the full legitimacy of the elections.

"In Ohrid, the opportunity to resolve that issue was missed. The north of Kosovo no longer has the Serbs in the Kosovo institutions," Selimi underlined.

Von Cramon said that she shared the frustrations regarding the meeting in Ohrid, adding that she expected concrete deadlines for the implementation of the agreement.

She pointed out that instead of being ready to reach a compromise in favor of the citizens, the leaders had decided to risk the future, not only of Kosovo and Serbia but of the entire region.

She said that she had hoped for an agreement on many concrete steps, instead of just general articles and paragraphs in the agreement and annex.

She said that everyone in Brussels was working hard for progress, and in doing so they acted completely fairly, not taking sides.

"We were hoping for an agreement and entry into a new phase before the upcoming elections," Von Cramon added.

She assessed that the process was still at the beginning, and added that in the end the normalization process had to be full recognition of Kosovo.

She also referred to the role of Russia, claiming that Moscow did not want the Kosovo issue to be resolved and that was why it was lobbying through the Serbian media for the agreement not to be signed.

Likewise, Von Cramon assessed that Serbia should face the past and expressed regret that at the commemoration of the NATO bombing, there had been no mention of why it had happened.

She pointed out that although she claimed she was not a lobbyist, she was faced with threats, which showed that the propaganda had become even worse than it had been.

Judah assessed that the situation at the end of last year had been explosive in Kosovo and that the reached agreement provided a chance for progress.

He says that it seems that what is written in the paper is "weak", and that there is not what was talked about - the solution of two Germanys.

"But an agreement can be the basis. If there is political will, a lot can be done. Nothing in Kosovo, or in the Balkans, can be done without political will. Where there is will there are ways and the only question is whether there is will," he emphasized.

Lazarevic said that nationalist rhetoric on both sides had increased and that the normalization of relations between the two people was therefore not getting a chance.

Selimi assessed that the agreement from Ohrid was "legally a half-empty glass".

"The first draft of the agreement, which appeared in the media, went towards the solution of the two Germanys, and in Ohrid, a lot of things disappeared, and we got something very weak. I don't even understand what they agreed on in Ohrid," he explained.

Seljimi said that he hoped that the representatives of the EU and the US, Miroslav Lajcak and Gabriel Escobar, would be able to lead the two sides to further agreements.

"The chance of strong international engagement to reach a clear document that would clearly give Kosovo the right to exist was missed," he said.

He also said that he believed that all assumed obligations should be fulfilled, but without violating the Constitution.