2014 Tougher for the Balkans–So Far
ByLaurence Norman
While 2013 was a year of unusual progress for Serbia and Kosovo — both in developing bilateral ties and in steps towards European Union membership — 2014 has been grueling.
Last December, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was buoyant about the reconciliation talks between Serbia and Kosovo, its former province that declared independence in 2008. A historic agreement was signed in April 2013 pledging to normalize the situation in the Serbian-dominated northern enclave of country where ethnic Albanians are in a majority.
Ms. Ashton was eyeing a second agreement that could ramp up Pristina-Belgrade ties. There was even talk that Ms. Ashton and the Serbian and Kosovo leaders were in the running for a Nobel Peace prize.
Acknowledging that progress, the EU agreed in June 2013 to start accession talks with Belgrade this year and embarked on a pre-accession accord with Kosovo.
However, so far this year, progress has been sporadic at best.
Elections in Serbia, for the European parliament and in Kosovo have drained some momentum, especially since Kosovo’s June vote has produced three months of political gridlock. A new Kosovo ballot could still be needed. With Ms. Ashton leaving office Oct. 31 with the current EU executive, no second Belgrade-Pristina agreement is in sight.
True, Kosovo and the EU have initialed the pre-accession deal and hope to sign it this year. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has pushed some unpopular reforms at home to make progress in EU negotiations. But heady talk of completing membership talks within five years has transformed into recognition that the EU road is a long slog. Incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said he foresees no new EU members during his five-year term.
Still, there are glimmers of hope 2014 could end on a better note.
On Monday, European Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle told The Wall Street Journal in an interview in New York he could see Brussels and Belgrade crossing an important threshold before the year ends — opening the first two of 35 policy chapters Serbia must address to join the EU.
“I think we still believe that would be possible before the end of this year,” Mr. Füle said. He warned progress depends on the member states as well as Belgrade since EU capitals must okay the move.
Mr. Füle said the chapters dealing with regional affairs (Chapter 35) and financial controls (Chapter 32) are most likely to be opened first.
EU member states, especially Germany, have pushed the EU to focus on justice and rule-of-law issues at the start of accession talks, noting the problems the EU’s newest members have had with this. Mr. Füle, who also leaves the post in October, said Brussels is working with Serbia on this and hopes to open those chapters (22 and 23) early next year. But he insisted he would not stop progress in other areas to guarantee those chapters come first.
Meanwhile, we caught up by phone with Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, who cancelled his trip to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York because of the domestic political crisis.
Mr. Hoxhaj insisted Kosovo was eager to advance the reconciliation talks with Serbia and would soon present ideas on what issues they should explore next.
Mr. Hoxhaj said it was wrong to see no progress in the talks during election season. He cited the implementation of the energy part of the April 2013 accord and Serbia’s recent agreement to allow permanent buildings to be constructed at “crossing points” which sit on Kosovo borders recognized by more than 100 countries.
He said he is confident the thorniest part of the April 2013 deal – a pending arrangement to bring the judicial system in the Serbian-dominated north under Pristina’s ultimate authority – should be completed by year-end.
“A lot of details have been discussed and we know exactly what this should look like,” he said.
Above all, he said whatever the outcome of the political crisis, where acting Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi is fighting to stay in power, Pristina will not relinquish its commitment to the Serbia talks.
“Kosovo has shown in the last years that it is always able to find a consensus on many key issues,” he said. “We are a very young country but we have a very developed political system.”
He said the Belgrade dialogue has not just served to fix specific problems but has “changed a lot” in Kosovo-Serbia ties.
“I think we will stay on track,” he said. “We are very much committed to that.”
No comments:
Post a Comment