Although European Commissioner Johannes Hahn yesterday said that he hopes for the soon continuation of the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, analysts from Belgrade do not share his optimism, writes Belgrade based daily Vecernje Novosti.
Analysts ask whether the dialogue will be continued at all until the end of the mandate of the current EU foreign minister’s head, Federica Mogherini, wondering whether the new administration, after the elections for the EU parliament, independently of the political forces that will win the elections in May for the EP, will stay a key mediator in negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, or the negotiating framework will be expanded.
Analyst Stefan Surlic does not believe that the dialogue will continue before the end of this year or the beginning of the next, because he sees no possibility of Belgrade and Pristina returning at the negotiating table soon.
“I do not believe that Mogherini will continue to mediate in the dialogue, because it is not realistic that Pristina will soon drop the taxes, or that Belgrade will agree to return to the table while taxes are in force,” Surlic told state news agency Tanjug.
He believes and that dialogue after the resumption will not have the technical-political dimension as it had until now, and if the talks are re-established, it will be final negotiations between the two sides with inclusion of other global players, which do not necessarily mean the intervention of Brussels.
“The new format will have to contain the basic principles agreed beforehand by both parties, and a time-frame with well-defined deadlines and a firm commitment from the international community that the negotiated will be implemented on the ground, since the agreed had no epilogue so far,” Surlic said.
The Secretary General of the European Movement in Serbia, Suzana Grubjesic, believes however that there is a possibility for the dialogue to continue even during the current administration, since some EU member states are trying to re-establish the dialogue.
There is, however, the danger that the entire process will be prolonged for late autumn, as European commissioners take office only in November, Grubjesic told Tanjug.
Asked what can be expected after someone else comes to the position of Mogherini, she says that the new administration can be faster and more capable, since the current “has not proved well”.
“They lost a grip, they allowed other actors to interfere, especially the United States. Maybe the new administration brings some new moments in the negotiation process itself,” Grubjesic said.
The Commissioner for Accession Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, expects the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina to come out of the deadlock and result in an agreement, which, he said, will be defined on hundreds of pages.
