EU Encourages Serbia to Recognize Kosovo

On Monday, April 29, an informal summit of the Western Balkans was held in Berlin with the participation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. Its central topic was the Kosovo settlement. Besides direct participants in the conflict, representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Northern Macedonia were invited to the meeting. Following the summit, the German Government reported proudly that Belgrade and Pristina agreed to sit down at the negotiating table for the sake of “their European future”. An important outcome of the event was the agreement of the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci, to meet on July 1 or 2 in Paris to discuss the possibility of normalizing relations between the two countries. Belgrade and Pristina expressed their readiness to further implement the existing agreements, as well as to continue the dialogue with the mediation of the EU countries. At the same time, the summit noted the importance of a final and legally binding treaty on a comprehensive settlement of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. Such an agreement is expected to pave the way for long-term stability in the Balkan region. They also stressed the need to resume a broad and transparent negotiation process, which should be complemented by confidence-building measures. The participants in the meeting particularly highlighted the recent agreement between Greece and Northern Macedonia, which resolved a long-standing dispute about the name of the latter, as a clear example of successful resolution of regional conflicts.

Positions of the parties and mediators

Despite the fact that no specific agreements were reached during the Berlin meeting that would allow to unblock the dialogue, Alexandar Vucic considered it useful. He noted the ‘obvious sincerity’ of other countries in the region, referring to the array of accusations against Belgrade from the summit participants. One of the key demands of the Serbian President remains the granting of autonomy to Kosovo’s Serb-populated areas and cancellation of the 100% barrier duty on Serbian goods imposed by Pristina last November. Hashim Thaci, in his turn, demanded that Serbia recognize the independence of Kosovo. According to the Kosovo leader, the dream that an association of Serbian communities (municipalities) with the executive power like the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina could be established in Northern Kosovo “will never come true”. At the same time, the President of Kosovo confirmed his readiness to sign an agreement on the normalization of relations on the terms of mutual recognition. Understanding the antagonism of the parties’ positions, the EU leaders tried not to stir up excessive excitement around the summit. On its eve, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said that the resolution of the dispute between Belgrade and Pristina will determine the relationship of these countries with the EU. The German Chancellor also noted that the recent breakthrough in the protracted conflict between Greece and Northern Macedonia could serve as a model for Serbia and Kosovo. According to the French President, the parties to the conflict must resolve their own territorial issue and independently consider possible options to address the situation and ensure stability in the Balkans. He noted that Paris and Berlin do not set themselves the goal of giving Serbia and Kosovo a “ready-made solution”, but want the negotiations of the parties to be less “emotional” and are determined to contribute. Equally important in the run-up to the meeting was the statement of the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn on the intention of the European Commission to launch negotiations on the EU accession of Albania and Macedonia. At the same time, such negotiations are currently underway only with Serbia and Montenegro out of the six Western Balkan countries. According to the European Commission, these two countries are the main candidates for accession to the EU by 2025, but the main condition for this is the solution of all territorial disputes.

Conflict resolution in exchange for European integration

It is clear that the prospects for a Serbian-Kosovo settlement are inextricably linked to the complex architecture of inter-regional and inter-state relations in the Balkans. Any change in the status quo with Kosovo could lead to an aggravation in other zones with smoldering conflicts. Therefore, the summit had several key goals, first of all to outline the positions of the parties to the conflict and prepare the ground for their smooth rapprochement. The European Union seems determined to take revenge for a series of past failures in various areas from Ukraine to Syria. The leading Franco-German tandem in the EU has dug into resolution of the current territorial conflicts in the European space and seeks to break the impasse – simultaneously developing a universal formula for tackling such situations. Therefore, Brussels’ attention to the Balkans is understandable, especially given the region’s future integration into the EU. Berlin and Paris will try to resolve the Kosovo conflict by consolidating international recognition of Kosovo as an indisputable fact. It is not surprising that those countries that support Kosovo’s independence were invited to the Berlin summit. The EU brings Belgrade through the stage of acceptance of the inevitable, manipulating the European future of the country. If the Serbian-Kosovo settlement is successful, this case could be a landmark achievement of European diplomacy and serve as a model for the peaceful and pragmatic resolution of other territorial disputes in Europe.