Zecevic: Brussels’ conditions are a pressure lever on Pristina

Slobodan Zečević
Source: Kosovo Online

The Director of the Institute for European Studies in Belgrade, Slobodan Zecevic, stated that Brussels’ refusal to send Pristina the questionnaire, which would clarify all elements of future EU membership negotiations, is a kind of “pressure lever” to prompt the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, which could later be used as an argument to persuade the five EU states that do not recognize Kosovo to support such an application.

“They expect the Albanians to do something. Maybe they see it as a pressure tool, not sending the questionnaire until some progress is made on the issue of the CSM. The Albanians are probably nervous and insisting that the questionnaire be sent to them because that’s their goal, but it seems that the questionnaire itself isn’t something so decisive that it would immediately force them to start implementing the Brussels Agreement,” Zecevic told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on Albin Kurti’s request to the European Commission for the questionnaire in order to gain candidate status for EU membership, Zecevic said that this is part of his political maneuvering with the EU.

“Kurti is essentially pretending that the Brussels Agreement and the CSM don’t exist, acting as if it’s not a problem, and simply requesting the questionnaire. That’s all there is to it,” Zecevic explained.

When asked how sending such a questionnaire to Kosovo would affect the five countries that do not recognize it, Zecevic said the argument would be that Pristina wants to “move closer to European standards.”

“I think the argument to those member states would be that this doesn’t mean formal admission for Kosovo, but rather that it wants to move closer to European standards, and the best way to do that is by entering the EU accession process. That way, Kosovo’s legislation aligns with EU legislation, and that would be a strong argument for the countries that have recognized Kosovo to try to persuade those that haven’t, that Pristina is being constructive, that it has taken a step in the right direction that should be rewarded,” Zecevic emphasized.