Adoption of the Constitutional Law on Kosovo will most likely be on the agenda after Belgrade and Pristina resolve key outstanding issues, because that regulation will reflect the agreements reached in Brussels. The question, however, is whether the content will impact the possible change of the Preamble of the Constitution, according to which the province is defined as “substantial autonomy” within Serbia.
Adoption of the Constitutional law was announced by the Director of the Government Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric: “In that way will be regulated the legal status of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia. It will be determined the degree of autonomy and everything that was decided in political terms will fit into our legal system, in order to have long-term legal certainty.”
“The law will reflect the reality on the ground, but that does not mean the renunciation of formulations that Kosovo is integral part of Serbia. This regulation should “recognize” Community of Serbian municipalities (ZSO), to define the relationship with the community and its financing,” said Milovan Drecun, head of the Parliamentary Committee for Kosovo.
The former head of the negotiating team with Pristina, Borislav Stefanovic says that the Law should define the changes resulting from the negotiation process, as well as the international presence in Kosovo, which is different from that in 1999 and 2006: “The law should relates to ZSO, but also on position towards Kosovo entity, which actually is not in the political, even in the legal system of Serbia.
When asked whether this means that the phrase “substantial autonomy” is “shaky”, Stefanovic said: “That’s a big question. The law definitely needs to define basic terms and powers of Belgrade, as well as how the status of the entity is considered. The enactment of the law does not require a change in the Preamble of the Constitution, but only in the future we will see what will be its content.”
