The agreement accepted - implementation monitored by the EU

There are three theses for the professional debate about the Community: First, Kosovo ratified the First International Agreement (2013) with 84 votes, which remains the obligation of the state, and the First Agreement (of six items) was not subject to consideration by the Constitutional Court (but the Principles of the Statute, 2015, which are subject to the court's test), is therefore inescapable and non-negotiable.

Secondly, if Kurti's government insists on not implementing the Agreement from 2013, why doesn't it start the procedure of its annulment in the assembly (according to the same procedure by which it was ratified?), thirdly, is the Community a constitutional category?

Other issues are political postulates that have nothing to do with legal concepts.

The Franco-German or Euro-American document, as it has recently been called, was agreed upon between Kosovo and Serbia according to the "take it or leave it" model, that is, there is no further negotiation on it and it has been concluded. Therefore, according to the Vienna Protocol, it is an international agreement even though it has not been signed!

Based on this protocol, they are considered agreements even without initials, signatures, and ratification, only a verbal process of instances or even an oral agreement is sufficient for them.

There is nothing essential in the "debate" in Pristina, conducted by force about the delegitimization of the truth of the other side because there is no legal expertise, neutral towards the political centers.

The seventh item of the plan, which is the turning point, is the re-emphasis of what Ahtisaari's plan contains, that is, the Constitution of Kosovo.

Article 143 of the Constitution [Comprehensive proposal for the solution of the status of Kosovo] provides in Item 2 that, regardless of other provisions of this Constitution, the provisions of the Comprehensive proposal for the solution of the status of Kosovo of March 26, 2007, have priority over all other legal provisions in Kosovo.

While in Item 7 of the Franco-German plan, the term independent management was "invented" as a substitute for the "self-management" of the Serbian community, and in the end, it can refer to the current competencies of municipalities with a Serbian majority in Kosovo, according to the Law on Local Self-Government, and it can be connected with the Community, as an international guarantee for those already acquired rights. While the Package (Annex III (Decentralization, Article 9) - Inter-municipal cooperation - foresees the creation of numerous associations (see: 9.2 Based on the principles of the European Charter on Local Self-Government, municipalities will have the right to form and participate in communities of Kosovo municipalities in order to protect and promote common interests, in accordance with the law.)

Second, Ahtisaari's package foresees a decision-making body (see: 9.1.2 Municipal partnerships can take all measures necessary for the implementation and realization of their functional cooperation, among other things through the establishment of a decision-making body made up of representatives appointed by the assemblies of the participating municipalities (…)

Kosovo adapted the Community to the Constitution

Article 60 [Community Consultative Council] in Item 3, where it is stated that the mandate of the Community Consultative Council included:

(1) Providing a mechanism for regular exchange of opinions between communities and the Government of Kosovo;

which is literally transmitted in Article 7 of the Franco-German plan: "Both parties undertake to establish special arrangements and guarantees, in accordance with the relevant instruments of the Council of Europe and relying on existing European experiences, in order to ensure an appropriate level of independent management for the Serb-majority community in Kosovo and opportunities to provide services in certain areas, including the possibility of financial support from Serbia and a direct channel of communication between the Serb-majority community and the Government of Kosovo.

As a consequence of the confusing move from March 2004, and especially the non-implementation of the verdict of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo (2016) regarding the property of the Decani Monastery, in the continuation of Item 7, a coercive measure for Kosovo related to the Serbian Orthodox Church is stated: "The parties will make official the status of the Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo and provide a strong level of protection to Serbian places of religious and cultural heritage, in accordance with existing European models."

Why has the narrative about the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue changed?

First of all, the Government of Kosovo (Kurti 2), after a series of mistakes (not allowing Serbian elections to be held in the north of Kosovo, (despite the right to dual citizenship), then announcing elections there (then postponing them) and especially trying to implement the law on license plates with police measures) dialogue about the north has turned from a political into a security issue, because global geopolitics has changed in the meantime since Europe (NATO borders) joined the war (against Russian aggression in Ukraine).

It is an unwritten rule that a state, that does not apply international agreements and its internal laws, is considered a failed state in international practice.

Since, in the Kosovo system, they form the internal legal system, international agreements are implemented or canceled according to the same procedure by which they were reached.

There is no third way. However, knowing that canceling the agreement would be followed by isolation and sanctions, Albin Kurti took a very dubious attitude towards it: internally he tells the militants that the "Community" does not pass, while externally he agreed with items 7, 10, and 11, which talk about the implementation of all Brussels agreements. But, in order to sell it to the public, he attaches importance to the order (items 20-11), that is, to the form, and not to the content.

Written by: Halil Matoshi, journalist and publicist