By Andrew Gray, Aleksandar Vasovic and Fatos Bytyci
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Just days after the European Union trumpeted an agreement between the leaders of former wartime foes Serbia and Kosovo, all sides seem to agree on one thing above all: They don’t actually have a deal yet.
After hosting talks between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday he was pleased to announce they had “agreed that no further discussions are needed” on an EU proposal to put their relations on a path to normalisation.
Borrell did caution that the pair still had to agree on an annex on implementing the plan but the EU’s diplomatic service went ahead and published the text of the basic agreement that night, adding to the sense of a landmark moment.
Any agreement on normalising ties between Belgrade and Pristina would be a boost for the EU’s ambitions to become a bigger geopolitical player and would reduce the risk of renewed violence between the two Balkan neighbours.
The text was not signed by the leaders, however, and it has since become clear that none of the key players see it as set in stone yet.
“Both parties have agreed to such a position (not to continue discussing the basic text), but this does not mean that the parties have officially accepted the agreement. Acceptance is made only through the signature of both parties,” Kurti told Kosovo’s parliament on Thursday.
Vucic stressed on Tuesday he would not sign any text until he was satisfied with the annex. He also declared he will not sign anything that recognises Kosovo “formally or informally” and would never agree to its membership of the United Nations.
Kosovo declared independence in 2008, almost a decade after war brought an end to Serbian rule. But Serbia has continued to regard Kosovo as a breakaway province and flare-ups between the two sides have stoked fears of a return to conflict.
The leaders now face renewed international pressure to agree the whole deal when they meet in lakeside city of Ohrid in North Macedonia on March 18, with the EU once again the facilitator.
The EU plan does not commit Serbia to recognising an independent Kosovo, but it would recognise documents such as passports, diplomas and licence plates and would not block Kosovo’s membership of any international organisation.
TOUGH ISSUE
Officials say the toughest issue to be tackled in talks on the implementation annex is a proposed association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo.
Leaders of Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority have argued such a body would give Belgrade an outsize influence in their country while Serbs say it is needed to protect their rights.
Kurti said on Tuesday he would not agree to any official body that violates Kosovo’s constitution, is mono-ethnic or gives Serbia “a bridge” to intervene in Kosovo’s affairs.
Despite stressing their red lines, Vucic and Kurti appear to be leaving room for manoeuvre.
While Vucic says he will not even “informally” recognise Kosovo, such a definition is ultimately a matter of interpretation.
When it comes to U.N. membership, only veto-wielding Security Council members can block an application. Serbia’s traditional ally Russia could stymie Kosovo but Belgrade alone cannot decide on whether its neighbour joins the U.N.
On a Serb-majority association in Kosovo, officials from the EU and the United States – which has also been pressuring Belgrade and Pristina to reach a deal – insist it can be established legally and without giving Serbia undue influence.
A senior EU official said an overall deal would be final only “when we also know exactly how it will be implemented – within what timelines, by whom”.
“This document – as it stands, without the implementation part – is a political declaration. And we had we have had many in the past which have not been implemented,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official said the two sides had made significant progress but “the last mile is always the most difficult”.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray in Brussels, Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade and Fatos Bytyci in Pristina; Writing by Andrew Gray; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
