Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) held today the third online discussion “New Year, Old Dialogue?”, attended by Agron Bajrami, Miodrag Mili?evi? and Bodo Weber, as experts on dialogue and related issues, and other representatives of civil society.

In the opening of the discussion, Jeta Krasniqi, Project Manager at KDI, stated that, despite the ruling of the Constitutional Court to go to early elections, the dialogue will continue to be discussed during the election campaign and will be among the central topics for the next government. She added that during 2020, in addition to the change of the two governments, which had also occurred due to disagreements over the issue of tariff and reciprocity, there have been significant developments in the dialogue, including reaching an agreement in Washington on economic normalization and resumption of dialogue after a 20-month suspension, following the appointment of Miroslav Lajcak as EU special representative.

The editor-in-chief of Koha Ditore, Agron Bajrami, initially stated that the ruling of the Constitutional Court regarding the overthrow of the government was delayed and should have been addressed in August, so that the country would not be subject to further complications, including the process of dialogue. As for the Washington agreement, Bajrami stated that it remains unclear in terms of implementation, and moreover it is not comprehensive, final and does not cover the mutual recognition element. “[…] The pressure or haste by Trump administration and his envoy Grenell to reach a quick agreement before the elections in U.S., has led to the fall of the Kurti Government and the election of the Hoti Government, in ways that even then were disputed. “Now we have the overthrow of the Hoti government because the need to have it for an agreement reached on September 4 in Washington was no longer applicable,” he added. Regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement, Bajrami said that the agreement was not close to be reached even when it was said that it was, and now one should hope for a different cooperation between the new U.S. administration and the EU. Bajrami also stressed that the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia cannot be built from economic points to continue next with the point of relations between the two countries, but the other way around.

Miodrag Mili?evi?, Executive Director of the NGO AKTIV, spoke about the importance of the participation of the Serb community in the dialogue, as well as the fact that the interests of local Serbs are not represented in this process. He also addressed expectations from the outcome of the agreements in general, as well as the full integration of Serbs through reaching a final agreement. On the other hand, he stressed that the diametrically opposed positions and attitudes of the parties, and Lajçak’s position that the parties should define normalization, represent an important element of this process. Mili?evi? further recommended for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia to take place in Pristina and Belgrade, rather than in Brussels.

Speaking about the period of about 3 and a half years since the beginning of the final dialogue process, Bodo Weber, Senior Associate at Democratization Policy Council (DPC) stated that this process has been privatized by stakeholders in both countries and to the international factor, also slipping into discussions on the exchange of territories. He also stressed that due to the lack of coherence in the policies and attitudes pursued by international stakeholders, we have not achieved the desired results. Weber described the role of EU representative to the dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak, as being unconstructive. Regarding the resumption of dialogue, he stressed the need to return the dialogue to the initial tracks, building on clear principles in the European spirit.

Regarding the role of the new administration led by President Biden, the panel members considered that his position is very clear in relation to Kosovo as an independent state, ruling out the possibility of touching the borders and defining Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic orientation as non-negotiable. Furthermore, they considered that the clear position of the U.S. will influence the EU to redefine its positions towards the process, so that the latter will take the responsibility that it is supposed to in relation to the process.

The participants agreed that reaching an agreement in the short term, namely within few months, is almost impossible to happen. It was said that the pandemic is a factor that will definitely play a role in this regard, as governments will prioritize the fight against the pandemic instead of going and holding talks in dialogue. However, it was said that neither side should use the dialogue process for political gain, as has been the case so far, but rather to focus themselves towards reaching a lasting agreement. A comprehensive agreement will not necessarily resolve all issues related to Kosovo’s international subjectivity. But it was stressed that Kosovo’s internal functioning should remain a priority, given the case of Bosnia – which has consolidated external subjectivity but no internal functionality.

The discussion was organized in the framework of the project “Promotion of a well-informed and participatory process in the final phase of the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue” supported by the Embassy of Switzerland and the German Embassy in Kosovo. This discussion took place in full compliance with the measures of the relevant institutions for preventing and combating the pandemic.

You can follow the full discussion here.

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Sa diskusije KDI-a: Dug put do postizanja kona?nog sporazuma izme?u Kosova i Srbije

Demokratski institut Kosova (KDI) održao je danas tre?u online diskusiju “Nova godina, stari dijalog?”, kojoj su prisustvovali Agron Bajrami, Miodrag Mili?evi? i Bodo Weber, kao poznavaoci dijaloga i pitanja u vezi sa dijalogom kao i drugi predstavnici civilnog društva.

U otvaranju diskusije, Jeta Krasniqi, menadžerka projekta u KDI-u, izjavila je da, uprkos odluci Ustavnog suda za prevremene izbore, o dijalogu ?e se nastaviti razgovarati tokom izborne kampanje i bic?e me?u centralnim temama i za sledec?u vladu. Dodala je da je tokom 2020. godine, pored promene dve vlade, koja se tako?e dogodila zbog neslaganja oko pitanja takse i reciprociteta, došlo do zna?ajnih razvoja u dijalogu, uklju?ujuc?i postizanje sporazuma u ??Vašingtonu o ekonomskoj normalizaciji i nastavku dijaloga nakon 20-mese?ne suspenzije, nakon imenovanja Miroslava Laj?aka za specijalnog izaslanika EU-a.

Glavni urednik Koha Ditore, Agron Bajrami, u po?etku je izjavio da je odluka Ustavnog suda u vezi sa obaranjem vlade zakasnela i trebalo je da se reši još u avgustu, tako da zemlja ne ulazi u dalje komplikacije, uklju?ujuc?i proces dijaloga. Što se ti?e sporazuma iz Vašingtona, Bajrami je izjavio da on ostaje nejasan u pogledu primene i da nije sveobuhvatan, kona?an i za uzajamno priznavanje. “[…] Pritisak ili žurba Trampove administracije i njegovog izaslanika Grenella da postignu brz sporazum pre izbora u Americi doveli su do pada vlade Kurti i izbora vlade Hoti, na na?ine koji su i tada osporavani. „Sada imamo oborenu vladu Hoti nakon što je konzumirana potreba da je imamo za sporazum postignut 4. septembra u Vašingtonu.“ dodao je on. Što se ti?e moguc?nosti postizanja sporazuma, re?eno je da sporazum nije blizak ?ak ni kada je re?eno da je blizak, i sada se treba nadati druga?ijoj saradnji izme?u nove ameri?ke administracije i EU-a. Tako?e, Bajrami je naglasio da se sporazum izme?u Kosova i Srbije ne može graditi od ekonomskih ta?aka do ta?ke odnosa izme?u dve zemlje, vec? obrnuto.

Miodrag Milic?evic?, izvršni direktor NVO AKTIV, govorio je o zna?aju u?ešc?a srpske zajednice u dijalogu, kao i ?injenici da interesi lokalnih Srba nisu zastupljeni u ovom procesu. Tako?e je tretirao o?ekivana od ishoda sporazuma uopšte, kao i punu integraciju Srba postizanjem kona?nog sporazuma.  S druge strane, naglasio je da dijametralno suprotni stavovi i stavovi stranaka i Laj?akov stav da stranke treba da definišu normalizaciju predstavljaju važan element ovog procesa. Milic?evic? je dalje preporu?io da se dijalog izme?u Kosova i Srbije odvija u Prištini i Beogradu, a ne u Briselu.

Bodo Weber, viši saradnik u Savetu za politiku demokratizacije (DPC), govorec?i o periodu od oko 3 i po godine od po?etka procesa kona?nog dijaloga, izjavio je da su ovaj proces privatizovali akteri u obe zemlje i kod me?unarodnog faktora, tako?e ulazec?i u rasprave o razmeni teritorija. Tako?e je naglasio da zbog nedostatka koherentnosti u politikama i stavovima me?unarodnih aktera nismo postigli željene rezultate. Weber je opisao ulogu izaslanika EU-a u dijalogu Miroslava Laj?aka kao nekonstruktivnu. Što se ti?e nastavka dijaloga, on je naglasio potrebu da se dijalog vrati na po?etne staze, gradec?i se na jasnim principima u evropskom duhu.

Što se ti?e uloge nove administracije koju predvodi predsednik Biden, panelisti su ocenili da je njen stav vrlo jasan u odnosu na Kosovo kao nezavisnu državu, isklju?ujuc?i moguc?nost dodirivanja granica i definišuc?i evroatlantsku orijentaciju Kosova o kojoj se ne može pregovarati.  ?ak su procenili da c?e jasan stav SAD uticati na EU da redefiniše svoje stavove prema procesu, i da EU preuzme odgovornost koja mu pripada o procesu.

U?esnici su se složili da je postizanje sporazuma u ??kratkom vremenskom periodu, posebno mesecima, gotovo nemoguc?e postic?i. Faktor koji c?e igrati ulogu u ovom pogledu, re?eno je da je nesumnjivo pandemija, jer c?e vlade dati prednost borbi protiv pandemije, pre nego idu i održe razgovore u dijalogu. Me?utim, re?eno je da nijedna strana ne bi trebalo da koristi proces dijaloga u politi?ke svrhe, kao što je to do sada u?injeno, vec? da se orijentišu ka postizanju trajnog sporazuma. Sveobuhvatni sporazum nec?e nužno rešiti sva pitanja u vezi sa me?unarodnim subjektivitetom Kosova. Ali, naglašeno je da unutrašnje funkcionisanje Kosova mora ostati prioritet, s obzirom na slu?aj Bosne – koja ima konsolidovani spoljni subjektivitet, ali nema unutrašnju funkcionalnost.

Diskusija je organizovana u okviru projekta „Promocija dobro obaveštenog i u?esni?kog procesa u završnoj fazi dijaloga Kosovo-Srbija“ koji su podržali švajcarska ambasada i nema?ka ambasada na Kosovu. Ova diskusija odvijala se u potpunosti uz puno poštovanje  mera relevantnih institucija za spre?avanje i suzbijanje pandemije.

Punu diskusiju možete pratiti ovde.