Ymeri: Kurti's conditions are a tactic; if he sticks to them, there will be no progress in the dialogue

Visar Ymeri, the Director of the "Musine Kokalari" Institute for Politics, tells Kosovo Online after yesterday's round of dialogue in Brussels that nothing unexpected happened and that the conditions set by Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti last week are a tactic by Pristina, which he is not sure will bear fruit, as the Serbian side is not ready to fulfill them.

"Nothing unexpected happened; we heard the same stories as before, that we meet, talk, each side holds its position, and there is no progress. What Mr. Lajcak said, that they agreed on the next steps, was strange to me because neither Petković from Belgrade nor Bislimi from Pristina said that. This means that either they don't want to talk about it, or Lajcak is very optimistic and doing his job. So far, we haven't seen any good and important results or steps in that direction," Ymeri said.

He points out that what happened in the dialogue was seen after Kurti and Vucic were supposed to meet in Brussels but did not. According to him, this is an indicator that the dialogue is currently dead.

"We keep talking about an agreement that needs to be implemented, but it won't be implemented. It seems that neither side agrees to start the process of implementing that agreement," Ymeri said.

He emphasizes that the Community of Serb Municipalities is one of Kosovo's obligations, but that Pristina will not do anything in that direction until it gets some guarantees that the Serbian side will implement its part of the agreement.

"I think the letter sent by former Prime Minister Brnabic created major problems in the dialogue process. One side cannot say it agrees with the agreement but will not implement point 24 and the like. If you agree with the agreement, it means you agree with the entire text, not just some parts. I think the biggest problem is that the Kosovo government, Prime Minister Kurti, and Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi constantly say they expect and seek guarantees that Serbia will also implement its side of the agreement, and then the Kosovo side will also take steps in that direction. I think that was last year, and we have the same problem now," he said.

He also emphasizes that regarding the conditions set by Kurti, two out of three points are related to guarantees that Serbia will implement what has been agreed upon.

"That they will implement de facto recognition of the Republic of Kosovo, but the third point is very serious. I think the Kosovo side has the right to demand that Milan Radocic, who was the main organizer of the attack in Banjska, face justice, and that if Serbia doesn't want to do that, he should come to Kosovo and face the Kosovo court," Ymeri said.

If the Kosovo side sticks to these conditions, Ymeri believes there will be no progress in the dialogue in the near future because, as he points out, he does not see the Serbian side being ready to do anything to fulfill them.

Ymeri sees Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi's decision to go to talks with the Serbian side as somewhat hypocritical.

"If the stance of the Kosovo side now is that there is no dialogue and no implementation of the agreement without these conditions, then why go? If Kurti doesn't want to meet with Serbia's President Vucic, then why should Bislimi meet with Petkovic? It doesn't make sense. I think each side, both Kosovo and Serbian, each government, tries to have a strategy and some tactics in the dialogue process. I think the Kosovo government is behaving tactically in this case; we won't break off the dialogue, but we will set conditions and see what happens," he said.

Ymeri is convinced that there will be no major steps forward in the dialogue until a new Commission is formed in the European Union and the elections in the US are completed.

"We now have elections in Great Britain, the first round of elections in France is over, we will wait for the second round to see who will form the government there. There are very big questions, and in this situation, I think neither Kurti nor Vucic have any reason to make a step forward toward implementing the agreement," he concluded.