Zivulovic: Possible sanctions for Belgrade and Pristina if they don't reach an agreement

The president of the Atlantic Council of Serbia, Vladan Zivulovic, evaluated that it was necessary to have an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina and added that certain sanctions might follow on both sides if that did not happen, RTV reports.

"I have the impression that it was presented to both sides that certain sanctions would follow if some kind of agreement was not made between them, i.e., that there would be measures that (President Aleksandar) Vucic did not clearly state, but he did say that it was a problem for Serbia. Albanians have also been warned what would happen to them," Zivulovic said for Tanjug.

Zivulovic states that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, is calculating the "defiance" regarding the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities formation because he is basing his political platform in the campaign for the elections in Kosovo on this and he does not want to relent in his opinion because he believes that his rating would drop.

"The US Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said that the CSM would be formed with or without Kurti, or with an alternative," Zivulovic recalled.

He added that it was evident that the Albanians would not enter the Council of Europe if Kurti continued to be stubborn about the CSM formation, and that there would be consequences for Serbia if it was not constructive in reaching an agreement.

"If they are not cooperative, the Albanians will be prevented from everything that was promised to them. Serbia has entered a constructive phase, otherwise, sanctions will follow - withdrawal of investments and cancellation of the visa regime," Zivulovic said.

Commenting on some Western analysts' interpretation that the proposed Franco-German plan aims to "suppress" Russia's influence in the Western Balkans, Zivulovic evaluates that the frozen Belgrade-Pristina conflict suits the Russians so that they can resolve it "in exchange for the Western understanding of the potential frozen conflict in Ukraine."

"At this moment, the Russians are stuck with Ukraine, and the question is how long this conflict will last, and it is necessary to have something to be able to negotiate with the West to bring it to an end somehow. Russia suits the frozen conflict here so that they could solve it in exchange for a Western understanding of a frozen conflict in Ukraine," Zivulovic stated.