Augustin Palokaj writes today that it is almost certain that the new EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, will insist on continuation of the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue and implementation of all agreements reached in the course of it. In fact, adds Palokaj, normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia is also the condition the two countries have to meet in order to get closer to EU membership. This is particularly the case for Serbia which has already opened membership negotiations. While the EU expects dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina to continue, it also has its parametres within which the normalization of relations can happen, writes Palokaj. Normalisation should be practical and maintain, at least for the time being, EU’s status neutral stance towards independence of Kosovo. He believes it is an illusion to expect the five EU countries to recognise Kosovo for the sake of dialogue’s continuation and it was naïve from Kosovo prime minister, Hashim Thaci, and foreign minister, Enver Hoxhaj, to believe that dialogue will contribute to the five EU states changing their minds.
At the same time, Kosovo is at a still uncertain position. Not only is it not clear what will happen with the dialogue and its path towards European Union integrations but also what has actually been achieved with the dialogue so far, remarks Palokaj. “Whoever will be in the future government cannot escape implementing commitments that Hashim Thaci and his Government have taken on from the dialogue with Serbia. But no one from the international community has the right to prevent Kosovo from approaching dialogue with a much more increased caution”, writes Palokaj.
