Serbia dealt another blow to the dialogue process.
During Tuesday’s session in the Serbian parliament, Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević publicly declared that Serbia has not accepted the Franco-German plan and that it will never recognize Kosovo’s independence.
“We have not signed it, and we have made clear statements, saying very clearly that any implicit or explicit implication of a so-called independent Kosovo is unacceptable. It is a red line for the Republic of Serbia. Can we talk? We will talk. We are using every maneuvering space to ensure that our state is not buried once again in recent history, not pursued, not punished, not sanctioned,” said the Serbian Prime Minister.
Professor Abit Hoxha at the University of Agder in Norway says that Serbia is interested in indefinitely prolonging the dialogue process.
“Serbia’s interest is to indefinitely delay the dialogue process; therefore, it is not interested in an agreement. On the other hand, the Albanian interest has been to reach an agreement, but it seems that there is not much willingness from the Albanian side either, and thus the dialogue is in clinical death,” Hoxha said.
However, Hoxha also has criticisms for the Kosovar side.
“The best way to move forward is to have better communication with the EU because so far, we have seen a lack of constructiveness from the Kosovar side.”
Member of the Presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Muhamet Hamiti, also sees the dialogue process as blocked.
“It is in Kosovo’s interest to make progress in the dialogue and for this process to conclude with recognition. This was Kosovo’s strategy before Albin Kurti came to power, but he said he would reconsider this strategy, and now we are only talking about de facto recognition. So, it is clear that he has degraded the dialogue and accepted a more harmful agreement,” Hamiti assessed.
For the European bloc, the Ohrid agreement, although not signed by the parties, is considered legally binding.
