The main aim of the visit of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, on July 8 to Serbia, will be to provide cooperation in rounding Kosovo’s independence, according to the interlocutors of Sputnik.
Although visit might be in the shadow of Greece referendum, analysts do not diminish the importance.
“I expect a continuing pressure on Belgrade to bring down further its red lines on the issue of Community of Serbian municipalities. Recently, Angela Merkel met with Kosovo officials, but no matter what was said about some conditioning of Pristina, I think that Pristina and Berlin work together well and coordinate their actions,” specifies for Sputnik President of the Centre for Strategic Alternatives, Aleksandar Mitic.
“The full implementation of the Brussels agreement, which in practice means the full support and cooperation of Belgrade in implementation and rounding of Kosovo’s independence. This is the prerequisite not only of Angela Merkel, but all of her predecessor at lower levels, that were coming to Belgrade,” said Djordje Vukadinovic, editor of New Serbian Political Thought.
He assumes that all other issues will be secondary.
“Everything will be in the table, and reforms, and Srebrenica, and certainly some economic acquisitions such as Telekom, where the German Deutsche Telekom appears as a major customer and the largest stakeholder in the purchase of our Telecom. It will be an important topic, but I think everything will revolve around Kosovo,” said Vukadinovic.
Germany’s chancellor, says Aleksandar Mitic, thanks to conditions set by Bundestag, has set the line high enough, so there is no need to raise it even more. We know, he adds, that the next step will be a requirement to sign the treaty on good neighbourly relations and the requirement not to block Kosovo’s entry into the United Nations.
“But at this moment it is important for Berlin to complete a story related to the Community of Serbian municipalities. With that as the goal to make of this structure something that really would be a pretty empty shell, without core competencies,” says Mitic.
Merkel’s visit, claims Vukadinovic, is important primarily for the current government, because of the memories and associations to the previous visit of Angela Merkel – who according to many opinions has largely cost the government of Boris Tadic, given the fact that he was not cooperative enough, or he did not fulfilled enough requirements of the German Chancellor.
“The pressure will be to sign an agreement with Pristina before fall. Already we see the announcement in the media that an agreement is close, within reach, as the differences are not as large and would be a shame to wait for the fall, when, almost everything has already been agreed ,” says Vukadinovic.
