I believe that the status of Kosovo will be resolved by the “Cyprus model”, which means Kosovo with Serbia in the European Union, said today the president of Civic Initiatives “SDP”, Oliver Ivanovic. “The Kosovo issue will be important for a long time, and I do not think it will be only till 2020 or 2022. That story will last for a long time, because I doubt that the status of Kosovo will be resolved at the time when Serbia enters the EU,” he told B92 on the occasion of today’s first intergovernmental conference between Serbia and the EU , which formally marks the beginning of negotiations for accession to the Union.
Ivanovic said that the first reaction of diplomats from European countries is that “Europe will not allow it and will not import new problems,” but that “they did it twice and it gave good results” – in the case of Ireland and Cyprus.
“In that way political tensions have been calmed down,” he said. He pointed out to the Cyprus problem, which though unresolved, “cannot produce any tension in Europe, while the Kosovo problem can produce a lot of tension not only in the Balkans, but also in Europe.”
He pointed out that the status of Kosovo, which we have now is not sustainable and will cause frustration among the Serbs. The only question is how and in what way they will break out, and that means the absolute instability of the Western Balkans, said Ivanovic, adding that he could not imagine the stability of the Balkans, if Serbia was unstable.
When asked why the Serbs in Kosovo are frustrated, he said that the main reason was that “what we consider as part of our national identity was so violently taken away,” noting that, throughout history such frustrations often produce nationalist aspirations, as seen today.”
“The situation could, depending on economic and other problems, oscillate up and down, and then at the expense of the frustration could be created a strong nationalist movement that could be very dangerous. I do not rule out this possibility, and I claim that Milosevic did not appear by chance. He saw the frustration and uttered: No one can beat you,” said Ivanovic.
He added that “at the moment there is no expression of such political power in Kosovo, except one party that is not so politically strong.”
Speaking about expectations, in regards to the opening of chapter 35, Ivanovic stated: “The most important thing is that Serbia, by some action, or agreement does not bring Kosovo to equal position as Serbia, because it would mean some kind of indirect recognition, as requested by the Albanians and a good part of the international community. I think it will not happen. In this generation of politicians I see a deep awareness that the recognition of Kosovo and Kosovo’s secession without any communication with Serbia would be disastrous for our national identity,” said Ivanovic.
When asked whether he would be surprised if recognition of Kosovo, at some point become condition for Serbia’s EU accession, he said that Brussels is not so homogeneous and compact as it seems, because out of 28 member states, five did not recognized Kosovo’s independence. However, he said that many countries, after recognitions, started to think about how it affects the stability of the Western Balkans, especially in the context of how it affects the stability of Serbia”.
“I heard the confession of many diplomats that their government rushed to recognize Kosovo and that it may have been a hasty move,” said Ivanovic.
Ahead of taking decision on the Association of Serbian municipalities (ZSO), Ivanovic said that “we should not have the illusion that the Serbian government is the only one that decide how ZSO will look like; there is also Pristina, and Brussels. Decision is made in a triangle.”
He said that ZSO sessions will be held in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, and when asked whether he would candidate for the Mayor, on local elections scheduled for 23 February, he said that the decision will be made at the meeting of the Board of CI “SDP”. “We’ll talk. We have at least four candidates that can be good, and one of them is a lady,” said Ivanovic.
