Could there be new EU measures towards Kosovo?

2024-08-10 22:42:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Could there be new EU measures towards Kosovo?

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The eventual addition of punitive measures of the European Union (EU) against Kosovo would deepen the injustice. This is what the Government of Kosovo says to Radio Free Europe, commenting on the statements of European Union officials, who reiterated on August 8 the position that the measures can be reduced, they can be removed, but they can also be increased depending on the steps taken by the Kosovo authorities in an effort to improve the situation in the north of the country.

The measures against Kosovo were decided in June of last year, as a response to the escalation of the security situation in the north of Kosovo, when the Albanian mayors - emerging from the elections that were boycotted by the local Serbs - began their duties in the municipalities in the north. Such measures are still in force.

The Government of Kosovo has emphasized that such measures "are not a solution" and that, according to it, "time has proven that they were unjust".

"They continue to be so as long as they are in force. Adding them would only deepen the injustice", says the Government's comment for Radio Free Europe. The Government of Kosovo has expressed its indignation as to why the EU, according to it, "has not taken measures against Serbia", which, after the attack by Serbian armed groups in Banjska i Zve?ani, in September of last year, "is sheltering and financing Milan Radoiciqin".

Radoicic had taken responsibility for the attack in Banjska in the north of Kosovo in September 2023, where Kosovo Police sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed. In the clashes that followed with the police, three armed Serbs, part of the group led by Radoicic, were also killed. There is still no indictment against Radoicic in Serbia, nor in Kosovo.

"The EU has only repeated the position of last year"

Diplomatic sources of the European Union (EU) have told Radio Free Europe that there is no change in the approach of the European Union (EU) regarding the punitive measures against Kosovo.

According to them, "the EU has only repeated the position expressed more than a year ago", when the measures were established, which they declared to be temporary.

At that time, it was said that the measures can be reduced, can be removed, but can also be increased depending on the steps taken by the Kosovo authorities in an effort to improve the situation in the north of the country.

In this context, according to the diplomatic sources of the EU, there is also the statement of the spokesperson of the EU, Peter Stano, of August 8, according to which, instead of the steps that would lead to the reduction of tensions, "many more unilateral steps and decisions leading to escalation”.

"So, we have measures in force and these measures can be toughened if all the actors of the EU agree to such a thing", said Stano.

Stano referred to the actions of the Kosovo authorities, which on August 5 closed nine branches of the Post of Serbia, after they said that they were operating in the north of Kosovo without a license. In addition to the EU, the United States also criticized this decision.

Likewise, the international community is opposing the opening of the bridge over the Ibër River, which the Government of Kosovo intends to open for vehicle traffic.

The QUINT states – USA, Great Britain, Germany, France and Italy – declared in recent days that they do not support the opening of the bridge at this time.

The Government of Kosovo, however, has emphasized to Radio Free Europe that the closure of the branches of the Serbian Post in the north "is a matter of the rule of law", while the opening of the Mitrovica bridge over the Ibër River "is a matter of complete freedom of movement, the rule of law and respect for the agreements issued by Brussels since 2015", as well as "direct contribution to the further integration of our citizens".

Disagreements in the EU for new measures towards Kosovo

Diplomatic sources in the EU say that the recent actions of the Kosovo authorities, which have been described by the EU as unilateral and uncoordinated, "do not go in the direction of escalating the situation, but may have the opposite effect".

Based on the entire situation created recently with the actions of the Kosovo authorities, diplomatic sources in the EU say that "those who have requested the removal of the EU's punitive measures against Kosovo, will now find it difficult to achieve this goal" .

The high representative of the European Union for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, in June recommended the member states to take a stand for the removal of measures against Kosovo.

At that time, most of the EU countries were in favor of the complete lifting of the measures, but some EU countries have expressed that "the fulfillment of the requirements by Kosovo has not been complete" and those countries did not agree that All measures should be removed from Kosovo.

The disagreement of certain countries for the lifting of the measures against Kosovo, have highlighted as an argument the breakdown of trust in relation to the Kosovo authorities, which, as it was said then, could take unilateral actions in the north of the country, even if some are gradually removed mass.

As an argument, the diplomats cited warnings about the opening of the bridge over the Ibër River in Mitrovica.

Based on the recent developments in the north of Kosovo, diplomatic sources in the EU say that countries that have requested the removal of measures against Kosovo will now have a hard time achieving this.

Some diplomats in Brussels say that in this situation it is possible to think about new actions towards Kosovo, which do not necessarily mean punitive measures. They have not clarified what those actions might be.

According to these diplomats, the readiness in the EU regarding these actions will depend on the events on the ground in the following days.

But, according to diplomatic sources in Brussels, there are countries that think that measures only against Kosovo and no measures against Serbia create space to consider the role of the EU as unbalanced.

Therefore, according to them, it is considered difficult for the EU Council to reach an agreement of all member countries to increase the measures against Kosovo, while there are no measures against Serbia.

However, the EU continues to expect the Kosovo authorities to return to cooperation and coordination with partners and before taking any action, consider the effect they may have on the various communities in Kosovo.

What does the EU have available for tightening measures?

Demush Shasha from the Kosovo Institute for European Policy, expresses the opinion that the measures that the EU has imposed on Kosovo are mild and do not have irreparable consequences. However, according to him, although the EU has the possibility to tighten these measures, the decision to do so requires the consensus of all member countries, which is difficult to achieve.

So far, as he says, the EU has canceled the meetings of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), which has a marginal effect. - may take political and legal decisions that suspend the implementation of some parts of the SAA.

"For example, the EU can issue a decision to suspend the entire trade part of the SAA. This is due to the fact that Kosovo's exporters are denied all the privileges they currently enjoy when exporting to the EU", emphasizes Shasha.

Also, according to him, the EU has the opportunity to toughen the current measure of not inviting Kosovo to high-level meetings and the suspension of bilateral visits. Despite the current measure, according to him, the highest institutional leaders of Kosovo have participated until now in some high-level meetings, but this may change.

"For example, the EU can issue the decision that from September 1, Kosovo's institutions will be denied participation in all European forums. I'm talking about escalations. This can go on escalating, until the levels where we enter the range of sanctions", emphasizes Shasha. He adds that until today even the measures of the EU in the financial field have been soft and have not produced irreversible consequences. According to of him, the EU has suspended the funds assigned to Kosovo, but has not canceled them.

"Now the EU can escalate this and from the suspension of funds it can go to the cancellation of funds. Then, the consequences are irreversible", emphasizes Shasha.

In this context, according to him, the losses for Kosovo could be from thousands of euros to hundreds of millions of euros, depending on what message the EU wants to send to the Kosovo authorities. However, he does not believe that the EU will undertake extreme measures, but they will be proportional in reporting the behavior of the Kosovo authorities.

"The range of possibilities to escalate these measures is endless", says Shasha.

However, according to him, the eventual tightening of measures is not likely to happen for a short time and easily, because this could cause irreparable consequences in Kosovo-EU relations. He considers that the EU will also behave depending on the situation in ground.

"If the EU, specifically, says 'don't open the bridge (over the Iber) and if Kosovo's institutions open it, but during this process there are no consequences on the ground - so there will be no riots - then I don't see that The EU will take measures", emphasizes Shasha, adding that otherwise, the EU will react in proportion to the created situation.

However, Shasha expresses the belief that the EU will not take serious measures towards Kosovo. He considers that even in the past, when there were serious riots in the north of the country, which resulted in injured KFOR soldiers, the measures taken from the EU towards Kosovo were soft.

On May 29 of last year, the protests of Serbs in the north of Kosovo, against the placement of Albanian mayors in the four municipalities there, culminated in clashes with members of KFOR. During the clashes, 93 members of KFOR were injured, some of who had serious injuries./ Rel