Kosovo-Serbia dialogue at critical point, the "challenges" of the new government
The dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia is expected to be one of the main challenges for the new governing institutions, with expectations for intensification of international pressure for reforms and advancement of the dialogue, experts in geopolitical developments estimate.
According to their assessments, internal political developments in Serbia, as well as the global priorities of international partners, may directly affect the pace and content of the dialogue, while the new Kosovo government faces major challenges in this process.
University professor of political science, Basri Muja, assessed that so far it has been difficult to make progress in the dialogue, not only due to factors in Kosovo, but also due to the unstable political situation in Serbia, including protests and internal tensions.
"Yes, in the situation we were in, unfortunately it was impossible to do anything through dialogue. But this time I think it was not only Kosovo's fault because in Serbia we also have a very, very unstable political situation. There have been massive popular protests there for more than a year now and as a result of this I think that even the institutions in the Republic of Serbia have not been able to be part of the debates, of the substantive meetings, if I may say so, with the partners from Kosovo. Of course this hinders it, but as I said earlier, this is not only Kosovo's fault," he said.
He emphasized that dialogue will remain one of the main challenges for the new Kosovo government.
"Of course, the issue of dialogue with Serbia will be, will be one of the challenges that await the new government, but this has a lot to do with and depends a lot on developments in Serbia. According to the information I have, there will be parliamentary and presidential elections there sometime towards the end of the year and I do not believe that by then the Serbian institutions will engage in deep debates, if I may say so, with partners from Kosovo," he said.
Geopolitical expert Lutfi Bilalli said that during the spring months there may be attempts for a high-level meeting between Albin Kurti and Aleksandar Vučić, however, according to him, the results remain uncertain because the Kosovo government faces major challenges, while political fragmentation and elections in Serbia could delay processes and be used as a political tactic that is also known at EU levels.
"Yes, we have had the first signals from the Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, who has given a congratulatory message, of course, for the formation of the new government and is calling for reforms to be made regarding integration into the European Union. The second was Kalas' statement today, also on the X platform, which congratulated Kurti and asked for reforms to be carried out, but at the same time the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue to be in focus. Will it happen very soon, maybe within I believe within the deadlines, especially in the spring season, in the months that we are entering, there will be an attempt for a high-level Kurti-Vučić meeting and I believe that the focus will be here. How effective it will be, we will see, but I believe that great challenges await the Kosovo government in this regard. Yes, politics within Serbia is, I can say, very fragmented and the elections could slightly disrupt the itinerary of meetings or prolongation. And this could be a kind of tactic with which I believe that even at the level of "The European Union is aware of this fact, that there may then be a prolongation due to the internal political situation in Serbia, which coincides with the power," he said.
Bilalli said that the region has entered an extremely dilemmatic phase regarding the possibility of quick meetings and concrete results from the dialogue, about which he expressed doubts, emphasizing that Europeans currently face major challenges such as the war in Ukraine and the internal problems of member states.
"And I think that we have entered a phase that I think is extremely dilemmatic, that we will have some kind of meeting and results from these meetings in the near future, which I doubt. But the Europeans have other extremely big problems that have to do first with the war in Ukraine, then with their internal problems of each state, or especially of the main powers of the European Union. However, the attempt of the Europeans, or in this case of Kalas and Sorrento, will be to organize a meeting with which they will try to move the processes forward. But I still think that in the spring we may also have an American attempt around some, I can say this, document that is openly unknown, warned, has been warned, but it will be possible to say that it may resemble the different models that they give in crises everywhere in the world", he said.
