Implementation of the Brussels Agreement is one of the three areas for which Belgrade, as announced, will receive a positive assessment in the annual report of the European Commission, which should appear in the first half of October.
Due to mutual accusations of official Belgrade and Pristina, the fact that the elections on both sides swallowed nearly a year and a post-election political crisis in Kosovo and Metohija, the EC has lowered the criteria for the full implementation of the Brussels Agreement ( the constitutionality is assessed before the Constitutional Court of Serbia). The current criteria are integration of justice system in northern Kosovo in the Kosovo system and acceleration of the continuation of political negotiations in Brussels. According to most political analysts, for this situation are responsible both, Belgrade and Pristina, but also the EU, as stated by some interlocutors.
Johanna Deimel, Deputy Director of the German Association for South East Europe, said that Kosovo still has no government, and Serbia is “focused on its own work,” so that neither party could be blamed.
“Neither Belgrade, nor Pristina, showed great enthusiasm to implement the Brussels agreement. Both sides continue to see the agreement as a “zero score” instead of understanding that it will be a victory for all if the agreements will be implemented and additionally supplemented by new talks and agreements. One should bear in mind that we will witness the personal and institutional change in Brussels. It is of particular importance who will be appointed as High Representative, instead of Catherine Ashton, i.e. who will mediate in talks between Belgrade and Pristina,” evaluates Deimel.
Tim Judah, a correspondent for the British Economist for the Western Balkan states that since in Pristina functions interim government, the process of negotiating about the details of the agreement, which was “vague in many aspects,” is now “more or less stopped” and will be continued when Kosovo gets the new government.
“I think that we should not point the finger at one or the other side. If one side has only a transitional government, it is normal that “the process of final forming of the agreement” will be slow. We should not forget that, when it comes to Kosovo, that part of the problem relates to the fact that those who wish to form a new government have to discuss it with Self-Determination movement,” indicates Judah.
Political analyst Dusan Janjic also points out that Belgrade and Pristina actually from September 2013 are in various early elections, for which “the responsibility is divided by all the signatories of the Brussels Agreement – the political leaders of Serbia and Kosovo, as well as Brussels”. He believes that part of the blame has also Ashton.
“The international community is in chaos, and people still believe that the Agreement should not be implemented till the end. Belgrade is pretending that he was not informed that next topics which will be discussed are the OSCE, the UN, the CoE, discussion on property and missing persons. Unlike Pristina, Belgrade has not informed and politically prepared neither Parliament nor the public, including the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, about what was agreed. They should know that division on Ibar River is just a story. Pristina also bears part of the responsibility, because it do not accept that the process of normalization of relations is lengthy process that might not be necessarily completed with full international recognition of an independent state of Kosovo. They constantly push the implementation of the Agreement, and wherever they can they open the question of status,” explains Janjic.
He says that the price for delay in implementing the Brussels agreement will not be only paid by Belgrade, but also by Pristina, because they will not get the visa liberalization, it will be late with the feasibility study and will not be able to participate in international and regional organizations.
