During a session of the Serbian parliament this week, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević reiterated that Serbia has not accepted the Franco-German plan.
“Once again, let me be very clear, this is being recorded and transcribed: the Republic of Serbia has not accepted the Franco-German agreement. Again, we have not accepted the Franco-German plan,” Vučević stated before Serbian parliament members.
In response, Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi informed Josep Borrell and Miroslav Lajčák of Vučević’s statement.
“What more do you need to be convinced that for Serbia, there is no Basic Agreement? Their participation in the dialogue is false, only to avoid potential sanctions. How many more drafts of the implementation plan do we need before we uncover the truth for all Member States?” Bislimi wrote yesterday on platform X, sharing the Serbian prime minister’s speech.
The Ohrid Agreement, Legally Binding
The European Union and its member states have consistently stated that the agreement reached in Ohrid last March to normalize Kosovo-Serbia relations is legally binding, even though it has not been signed by the parties.
Regarding the recent statement by the Serbian prime minister, the media asked the Quint states (USA, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK).
The UK referred to a statement made by its ambassador to Serbia, Edward Ferguson, on “Euronews Serbia.”
Ferguson stated that in Ohrid, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić made a plan for normalization but noted, “We are not even close to being satisfied with the progress.”
“We have seen some progress, which we welcome, such as Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo’s license plates. Kosovo has finally implemented the Constitutional Court’s decision on property belonging to the Dečani Monastery. The UK has been heavily involved in pressuring for this to happen. But much more needs to be done to achieve stabilization, which is what we want,” Ferguson emphasized.
End the “Tit-for-Tat” Policy
Germany, through the Head of Culture, Press, and Communication at its embassy in Kosovo, Christian Bottcher, stated that the “tit-for-tat” policy between the two countries must stop.
“It is high time for a ‘step-by-step’ policy looking to the future, rather than a ‘tit-for-tat’ policy that places new obstacles on both sides, disregarding the people’s will to move closer to the European Union,” Bottcher said.
He also noted that both Kosovo and Serbia accepted the “Agreement on the Path to Normalization between Kosovo and Serbia” and its implementation annex in Ohrid.
Therefore, he stated, “the agreement and its annex are internationally binding for both parties and are included in Chapter 35 of Serbia’s accession negotiations.”
According to him, Germany continues to expect both parties to take the necessary steps towards implementing the agreement.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated in February last year that the Franco-German plan “contains de facto recognition.”
“It is not meant as a proposal for a final agreement. But it is a normalization that is not yet full normalization, as it foresees, we can say, de facto recognition. We have de facto recognition there,” Kurti said.
Furthermore, Kurti mentioned that Kosovo accepted the Franco-German plan in principle but said it needed to be negotiated and then turned into an agreement as there were “many undefined things.”
“Especially concerning international guarantees, implementation mechanisms, and the timing sequence. The first time they brought it to us on September 9, it wasn’t a take-it-or-leave-it situation. Meanwhile, on January 20, because a lot of time had passed, in my opinion unnecessarily, we could have met more often and earlier, it was almost a take-it-or-leave-it situation. So, as I said in September, I repeated in January, it is a good basis for further discussions,” Kurti said.
Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca also commented on the Franco-German plan, saying, “It’s not that we agree 100% with that plan, and we have our objections, but if it is the fruit, it has a core, and the core is mutual recognition between Kosovo and Serbia.”
On the other hand, Serbia expressed opposition to the Franco-German plan as early as November 2022.
At that time, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić stated that the basics of the Franco-German plan were unacceptable to Serbia, as the plan initially starts from the fact that Kosovo is independent.
He also said that the plan was painful for both Serbia and Kosovo.
After this, on February 27, 2023, Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić agreed in Brussels on the Basic Agreement, previously known as the Franco-German plan, while on March 18, in Ohrid, the parties agreed on the implementation annex, known as the Ohrid Annex.
Although it was not signed, the European Union stated at that time that the agreement is legally binding and that the obligations arising from it are an integral part of the European path for Kosovo and Serbia.
Key Points of the Agreement and Its Implementation Annex
The agreement between Kosovo and Serbia includes mutual respect for independence and territorial integrity, recognition of documents, diplomas, and license plates, and the deepening of cooperation in economics, the rule of law, healthcare, and missing persons.
Serbia also committed to not blocking Kosovo’s membership in international organizations, while Kosovo agreed to provide a certain level of self-management to the Serbian community, specifically the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities.
The implementation annex specifies that all articles of the agreement must be implemented independently of each other, that Kosovo and Serbia will not block the implementation of any article, and that non-compliance may have direct negative consequences for their EU membership processes and financial aid from the EU.
The parties were also required to establish a joint commission within 30 days to monitor the implementation of the agreement, chaired by the EU.
On April 18, 2023, the European Union, through its spokesperson Peter Stano, announced that the joint commission to monitor the implementation of the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia had been established.
“The task of the joint commission is to oversee the implementation of the Agreement on the Path to Normalization of Relations between Kosovo and Serbia and its implementation annex. This is a concrete result and a concrete implementation of what was achieved 30 days ago at the high-level meeting between the President of Serbia, Vučić, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Kurti,” Stano said.
Since the Ohrid agreement, Kurti and Vučić have met several more times within the framework of the Brussels dialogue.
