After the agreement in Ohrid, there are doubts in Kosovo and Serbia, while the West welcomes it. Kurti and Vucic agreed on March 18 to implement a European plan for the normalization of relations.
The international reactions after the March 18 agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on the roadmap for the implementation of the agreement for the normalization of relations between the two countries have been positive. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “meeting the obligations under the Framework Agreement, as part of the continued commitment to reconciliation, will provide great opportunities for people in both countries and accelerate their path to membership in the Union.” European”. Blinken, through a statement, congratulated the two leaders of Kosovo and Serbia, Kurti and Vucic, “for the leadership shown in reaching this agreement”. “The United States will continue to be actively engaged in coordination with EU partners to support Kosovo and Serbia to work towards a predictable and peaceful relationship. We will continue to support the advancement of stability and prosperity in the Western Balkans,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Positive feedback from Germany
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Even the German government welcomed the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and congratulated the parties for this “progress”. Steffen Hebestreit, spokesman for the Federal Government of Germany, wrote on Twitter that “now everything remains in the implementation”. “Congratulations on this progress to establish relations between Serbia and Kosovo on a new basis! Now it’s all about taking the lead on keeping and implementing what has been agreed. We will be at your side to fulfill your European perspective”, wrote Hebestreit.
NATO, through its spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, announced that the North Atlantic Alliance welcomes the agreement of Prime Minister Kurti and Serbian President Vucic on the agreement proposed by the European Union. “We urge both parties to implement what they have agreed as soon as possible, and we also demand that the agreement be fully implemented. We are committed to stability in the Western Balkans, including KFOR,” Lungescu wrote on Twitter.
The American ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, wrote that the most important achievement of the March 18 negotiations in Ohrid is that Serbia has embraced the European future. A decision that required wisdom, integrity and courage. There is still much work to be done, and the United States will be with you every step of the way,” Hill wrote.
Evaluation of the agreement from the perspective of Kosovo and Serbia
After the Ohrid meeting, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, continues to not trust President Vucic. She wrote that “Kosovo proved to be the only party in the dialogue that was constructive and interested in peace and stability”. “I expect the commitments of our allies to be fulfilled regarding Kosovo’s membership in international organizations as well as recognition by non-recognizing states”, said Osmani, adding that she “does not have any expectations towards Serbia, as Serbia has violated the agreements of 12 years agreed”. “I have no expectations from Serbia. They will continue to violate the agreed agreements, as they have done these 12 years”, Osmani wrote.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, said that the agreement reached in Ohrid, North Macedonia is “de facto recognition” of Kosovo, while he criticized Serbian President Aleksandar Vučič for avoiding signing the agreement. And the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, for his part, showed why he did not sign the agreement or the implementation annex on Saturday in Ohrid, while he emphasized that “Serbia is ready to work on implementation, up to its lines of red” “First of all, because the Republic of Serbia is an internationally recognized country, while what they call the Republic of Kosovo, for me it is not internationally recognized. I don’t want to make an international agreement with the Republic of Kosovo”, said Vucic at a press conference in Belgrade. According to him, Serbia’s red line is the acceptance of Kosovo as an independent state in the United Nations Organization.
“After every summit and meeting, in every country, I unequivocally talk about Serbia’s red lines, which are related to the opposition to Kosovo’s admission as an independent state, and Kosovo’s admission to the UN, as you can see, even today I have said that no one can ever place a legal obligation on Serbia for what Serbia has not accepted. Therefore, I have not signed what the EU has called the agreement nor the Annex. However, the Republic of Serbia is ready to work on implementation, up to its red lines, for many reasons”, President Vucic said.
Criticism from the opposition in Kosovo and Serbia
The agreement agreed in Ohrid, North Macedonia, and Prime Minister Kurti’s agreement to it, meanwhile, was severely criticized by the two largest opposition parties in Kosovo, the Democratic League and the Democratic Party of Kosovo. The chairman of the LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku, called it “fraud and the loss of a historic opportunity”. “An agreement without recognition, not final and with the Association plus in it, is what Kurti brought to Kosovo today. This new situation, transformed as an integration obligation for the country, is irreparable”, Abdixhiku wrote. The chairman of PDK, Memli Krasniqi, meanwhile, said that with “last night’s agreement, Kosovo will inherit the frozen conflict with Serbia for years. “The agreement without mutual recognition, focused on an advanced Association and political autonomy for the Serbian community and without guarantees for the Euro-Atlantic integration of Kosovo, is a great political and national failure, which we will pay dearly for forever”. wrote Krasniqi.
Even some of the opposition parties in Serbia criticized President Vučić for his agreement on the annex to the implementation of the agreement with Kosovo. The leader of the right-wing movement Dveri, Boshko Obradović, estimated that “the only solution to the political crisis is the resignation of President Vučić”, and called for citizen rallies against the European plan. “Vučić, in an unauthorized way, has assumed the obligation in Ohrid to start the implementation of the Agreement that he accepted on February 27 in Brussels,” Obradović wrote.
The chairman of the “Serbia Center” Movement, Zdravko Ponosh, said that Aleksandar Vucic came out of the Ohrid negotiations satisfied, because he had achieved both goals he had set for himself. “The first is that he does not sign anything, despite the fact that he has undertaken the obligation on behalf of Serbia, and the second is that he transfers the responsibility for the fulfillment of those obligations to others,” Ponosh wrote.
Doubts about the legality of the agreement
Kosovo and Serbia agreed on March 18 to implement a European plan for the normalization of relations and according to the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who was a mediator, both countries have an obligation to implement the commitments. The roadmap for the implementation of the European plan foresees that both countries to fully commit to respect all articles of the Agreement and its Annex. “Kosovo has agreed to start immediately, and when I say immediately, I mean immediately, negotiations facilitated by the European Union for a specific agreement and guarantee to ensure an appropriate degree of self-management for the Serbian community in Kosovo. The parties also agreed to adopt as a matter of urgency the declaration on missing persons as negotiated within the EU-facilitated dialogue,” said Borrell.
But the non-signing of the document has raised doubts in the public opinion, whether the Ohrid agreement can be considered legally binding. And Josep Borrell said that the document of February 27 published by the EU, and the Annex of its implementation, published on March 18, “are considered approved through his statement”. The agreement, said Borrell, “will be part of the integration process of both parties in the European Union”.
“And to make it very concrete, I will start work immediately to officially include the relevant amendments in Chapter 35 of the framework of negotiations between Serbia and the EU and in the agenda of the Special Group of Kosovo for Normalization. In this way, both parties will be bound by the Agreement, which will be part of their path to the European Union. And we in the European Union will forcefully ask the parties to fulfill their obligations. Their non-fulfillment will bring consequences”, promised the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell./DW
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