There is no entry into the EU without the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations
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There is no entry into the EU without the normalization of Kosovo-Serbia relations
3 months ago
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Serbia and its narrative about Kosovo pose a risk to Kosovo's national security, it was said in the second discussion panel within the conference "The influence of foreign actors on national security", organized by the Kosovo Center for Security Studies (KKSS), in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung office.

The consulting expert of the Government of Kosovo in the dialogue process, Leon Malazogu, said that Serbia in several dimensions is creating a narrative that damages Kosovo.

"The typical risks that we are aware of and try to be as attentive as possible, one that is the most visible and that we have a neighboring country that does not recognize Kosovo and even has Kosovo in its constitution, so we are talking about Serbia... What Serbia is doing is trying to maintain the narrative that the political situation in Kosovo is not good and that it is not finished because it is still an open conflict. And this is needed in two dimensions, the first because it tries to prevent the Kosovo Serbs from integrating and they always push the narrative that Kosovo is not a social contract and that it is desirable and they try to sell this narrative to the world, but that the community Serbs are suffering and that Kosovo is not part of the United Nations", he said.

The former ambassador of Kosovo in Japan said that Kosovo and Serbia cannot join the European Union without normalization of relations.

"The EU has a conditional policy for both Kosovo and Serbia, and none of the countries can join the EU without normalizing relations with each other. Kosovo in the conditions that are being imposed on it are much stronger, because five EU countries have not recognized Kosovo, so for Kosovo there is no more viable path due to the non-recognition of these five countries. At the same time, for Serbia, of course, on paper these conditions are very good, but in practice they are not so... 15'04 Serbia practically has no interest in joining the EU, because the rule of law would be brought, which would certainly overthrew its political elite to a large extent, but I also don't want it to be reformed", he emphasized.

Besar Gërgi, researcher at the Legal and Political Studies Group, said that EU integration should be seen as a tool that also provides security in the country and the region.

"We have to rethink national security, we have the militarization of Serbian society and Serbia as a country, Serbia invests a lot in defense, 1.8 billion in defense, which is 10% of its budget, and has performed mandatory military service and by creating special brigades for reactions quickly...We must see the EU not only as a tool that improves our standard of living and democracy and the rule of law, but also as a provider of security in our region", he said.

Within the framework of the conference, the report "Facing Kosovo's internal and external threats on the road to EU membership" was presented.

The researcher at KKSS, Adelina Hasani, said that EU membership is not only a matter of political and economic integration, but also a critical component of the strategy for national security. She said that not having an exact date when Kosovo can join the EU has increased the influence to manipulate this narrative.

"59.5 percent of the respondents talk about the risks to national security, so I believe that we have to change the narrative that European integration is not only about economic integrations, but also about national security.... In this report we also touched on how Serbia already plans its defense strategy and is spending a lot on the defense strategy and we also had as a response that Kosovo has also increased the budget for the defense strategy, but it is not in balance as Serbia has a strategic alliance with Russia and China... 8.5% see an improvement in the rule of law in the northern part of Kosovo has certainly produced a variety of respondents", she said

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