The American professor, Edward Joseph, considers unacceptable the statements the president of Serbia that he will not fully implement the Brussels agreement and its annex that was reached in Ohrid. The foreign policy expert and a very good connoisseur of the Balkans, considers that Kosovo and Serbia are not close to the final agreement.
In an interview for KosovaPress, Joseph states that the leaders of Kosovo should also think about the consequences of holding the elections in the north before they are held next Sunday.
He emphasizes that Serbia would benefit if there are incidents in the north and non-participation in the April 23 elections.
“It’s a very hard question, it is a very difficult position to be in. What would damage Kosovo? Some kind of game that Serbia wants, to have some kind of confrontation, think about that, what would benefit Alexander Vucic the most. He would benefit the most from, if the elections are held and there are incidents, but we have KFOR, we have to look to KFOR to address that, hopefully they will address that, that’s one way. The other way is, he would benefit possibly, if elections are held and almost no Serbs vote. So, he would benefit, Belgrade would benefit from this. They’d say see, this is a farce, they’re not listening to the people, the people didn’t come out and vote. So the Kosovo leaders need to think about that, think about the consequences of that, and the benefit in Belgrade to that kind of thing, and it’s very bad. The first words of Alexandar Vucic after Ohrid should be, I encourage the Kosovo Serbs to return to the institutions and participate in the elections. And then he could say, if Kosovo doesn’t fulfill its obligations, well, then I will review our commitments. He could say that, and it would be fair to say, okay. But he’s been negative from the beginning, and we had negativity here”, says Joseph.
The American professor from “Johns Hopkins” University, Edward Joseph, tells KosovaPress that the Ohrid agreement is important, but there are many obstacles.
“The atmosphere is very negative here, and it will require real serious engagement by the US and EU to achieve. So for me, I agree with all of that, and I think it is very important to respect the potential in this agreement, along with the risks and the problems in the agreement, the ambiguity in the agreement, the gaps in the agreement. But it’s important not to dismiss the agreement”, he adds.
The foreign policy expert does not believe that Kosovo and Serbia are close to the final agreement.
He says that things would be very different in a positive sense if all the members of the European Union and those of NATO recognized Kosovo’s independence.
“Are close to a final agreement? No, unfortunately, that’s not the case, and I’ve read this. The problems are complicated, but the actual origin is very straightforward, in my view. So, in my view, this continued problem and all of these tensions with Serbia, and this long, protracted problem, and I would point out a quote here, that was mentioned from one of our colleagues in Belgrade, that was agreed by a colleague here in Kosovo, was that, Kosovo Serbs are hostages held by Belgrade. So, this is very important that the real problem here, is the fact that Kosovo is not recognized by the EU and of all the EU members, and all NATO members, if it were, then everything would be different, there would be a different pathway here, and there would be a much smoother relationship with Serbia and there would be recognition, but that’s not the reality. So we have to deal with the reality, the way it is”, says Joseph.
Moreover, Joseph emphasizes that Kosovo will not be able to join NATO and the European Union without the full integration of the Serbs.
“Kosovo will not achieve its full standing and acceptance, and in potential in NATO, in Europe Union, without the Kosovo Serb community. As we do not want to divide Kosovo, have it separated, and have more population movements, and problems then in North Macedonia, and Montenegro, and Bosnia, we don’t want any more of that, that’s what Putin wants. This is what Putin wants in Ukraine, to take the territory of Ukraine. So that’s the task, is the task of the government, and it’s the task of the citizens here, to understand, and to have good relations with Kosovo Serbs, and understand that they are equal citizens. They have the same rights as any citizen, and we have to ensure that Kosovo has its rights, and that Kosovo is not pressured by Serbia, that the north is not manipulated by Belgrade, creating tensions. And we have to move forward so that elections take place in the north, and the Serbs return to Kosovo institutions”, he continues.
He considers the statements of the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, that he will not implement the parts of the agreement related to Kosovo’s membership in the United Nations, to be unacceptable comments.
“These kinds of comments are completely unacceptable, because according to the EU and the US, it is legally binding. And the agreement itself, one of the provisions of the agreement, says, all provisions are equally binding, the agreement itself emphasizes that, so you cannot just pick, to do this provision of the agreement, this obligation, but not that obligation. So these are very negative comments, very negative remarks, and we need a positive atmosphere in Serbia, we need a positive atmosphere in Kosovo. And here, the US and the EU need to take it seriously, they really need to push forward, they cannot just let this go”, says Joseph.
Kosovo and Serbia agreed on March 18 in Ohrid for the annex to the implementation of the agreement reached in Brussels, even though it was not signed. Within it, the parties agreed to approve the declaration on missing persons. Also, in order to implement Article 7, Kosovo should immediately start negotiations within the dialogue to define specific arrangements and guarantees, which ensure an appropriate level of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo.
