Soon after the Brussels Agreement was signed a question was made whether implementation would be more challenging than its signing. For both, Belgrade and Kosovo Serbs, the agreement is a success in given circumstances, however both claim that there are no staff who could be engaged in the actual work.
Three signatures in Brussels have opened many issues on the ground. The first problem identified in Belgrade is that there is no sufficient number of judges and prosecutors, who are supposed to fill out the work places provided by the agreement. The second problem has been identified by those to whom the agreement refers to – problems will be, they say, qualifications of Serb jurists.
“There are some people who could start with the work in accordance with their references, but there will be the lack of certain number of the staff. There is another problem as well – diplomas from Mitrovica are not recognized by Pristina, and that will be a serious problem for those who have such diplomas and who have qualifications for those work places,” said Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Branimir Stojanovic.
The agreement is a shift forward, say in Belgrade, because Serbs in northern Kosovo will have, beside the police commander in the north, and the president of the court coming from Serb community. It is important to mention that as of 2008 there were no Serb prosecutors from the north in Kosovo institutions.
Jurists south from the Ibar/Ibër River, where most of Kosovo Serbs live, are worried that they can be left out of the agreement. “For sure that the agreement has good sides, but what worries citizens who are not in northern Kosovo is – the destiny of the rest of Serbs and their settlements. “I am not running away from the fact that Kosovo laws will be implemented,” said lawyer Zivojin Jokanovic from Pristina.
According to so far information, jurisdiction of the Basic Court in Mitrovica will cover not only four municipalities in northern Kosovo but South Mitrovica, Srbica/Skenderaj and Vučitrn/Vushtrri. Serb judges will be involved in the appellate procedures. The president of the court will be a Serbs, whereas chief prosecutor will be Albanian.
“There will be challenges in regard to selection of judges who will seat in panels, there is challenge with learning Kosovo laws and regulations which will be used in proceedings, and it is also important to explain to citizens in the north the way of operation of the judiciary in northern Kosovo and Metohija,” said director of the Forum for Ethnic Relations, Nenad Djurdjevic.
In Belgrade say that such judiciary should lead toward the creation of the Community/Association of Serb municipalities, which is supposed to be the next topic of the dialogue in Brussels. Pristina-based media write that agreement signed in Brussels is beneficial for Serbia, since it enables Serbia to open chapters in negotiations with the European Union and proves that Kosovo lacks full sovereignty.
