Brussels expects free and democratic elections in Serbia, and says to a future government to as soon as possible continue successfully started negotiations on the accession and dialogue with Pristina.
The European Union as a rule, does not comment on the elections to be held “in accordance with international standards and democratic procedures,” as in the partner countries and in the candidate countries. Shortly before the parliamentary elections in Serbia, from the seat of the European Commission speak of expectations only:
“It is important that the elections are well prepared, that the election process proceeds without problems and to quickly resume parliamentary and governmental activities so that we can continue with the process of Serbia’s accession. We expect from Serbia not to lose focus of the European reform agenda and to continue the process of normalizing relations with Kosovo, especially in the implementation of agreements already reached,” told Deutsche Welle spokesman of the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Peter Stano.
The Commissariat for Enlargement underlines the fact that during the entire election process the work of technical working groups of Serbia and the EU was not interrupted. In the framework, as the European Commission stresses, of “successfully initiated” talks on Serbia’s accession, in February and March were held expert meetings, the process of screening continued and a meeting of the Committee for the stabilization and association was held.
The application of the Brussels Treaty is expected
An assessment can be heard in the diplomatic sources in Brussels that the election results, to be held in Serbia on Sunday 16th March, should be relatively clear, and it is the consolidation of the power of the current ruling party. It is stated that this is a party that “naturally did not inclined towards the EU,” that it went through “the biggest change” when it comes to the European agenda of the country and now is committed to Serbia’s European path.
Participants of the negotiations in Brussels so far
“The call for elections in Serbia is based on the consolidation of the positions in the country and therefore the EU is not ‘strong’ issue in the election campaign. But I am convinced that this Serbia’s path will continue,” says to Deutsche Welle Rosa Balfour, the European Policy Centre (EPC) in Brussels. “In addition to the whole package of reforms, from Serbia, in the future will be asked to strengthen democratic institutions, rule of law, justice. However, I believe that all eyes will remain fixed on the dialogue with Pristina and the application of the Brussels agreement. The priority for the new government in Belgrade will have to be that all already agreed is applied. The European Union and its Member States will closely monitor and there is no “way back” of the agreement already reached,” say Balfour.
Changing actors in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina?
In these moments the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina is not progressing well, European analysts estimate. It is expected that the elections in Serbia and Kosovo, as well as possible “change of actors” in discussions at a high political level, will bring additional “jam”.
“While we can expect a period of introduction of new players and establishing a new trust, I believe that in the second half of 2014 the things should move on. After the Kosovo elections in June and until the end of October, when the term for the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton ends, who facilitated in these agreements, there is a possibility to speed up the dialogue. Personalities are very important in these negotiations, but we must not forget that there are entire technical teams. We should not focus only on the leaders, but it is naive to think that this will not affect the dialogue,” said Balfour.
In Brussels prevails positive opinion about the “long-term picture” of the results of talks between Belgrade and Pristina. It is estimated the “stakes are high” for Serbia and Kosovo, and the parallelism of the accession process and the dialogue process gives EU enough weight to overcome the current difficulties in the implementation of the Brussels agreement.
