LOCAL PRESS

 

Vucic: Rosu not allowed to north without KFOR, Serb community’s consent (Beta/TV Pink)

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the only truth was that an agreement had been made with NATO that not a single Kosovo unit armed with guns had the right to enter the north of Kosovo without the consent of KFOR and local authorities, and that anyone saying otherwise was the worst liar ever. In an interview with TV Pink, Vucic explained that he had attended all meetings with NATO representatives, and that during the signing of the Brussels Agreement a special guarantee was required to keep the Rosu police unit away from the north, as there were no other units of the kind at the time, nor was anyone mentioning a Kosovo army. “It is precisely a lack of Rosu presence in the north that our agreement with NATO was based on. I had repeated that to Catherine Ashton five hundred times before we came into the NATO building, and the agreement was that there would be no formations with long guns, with an emphasis on Rosu. There were also two conditions attached - a Rosu presence had to be approved by KFOR and NATO on the one hand, and representatives of the local community, namely four mayors, on the other. That’s a cumulative condition, not an alternative one. It’s the complete truth, and if anyone says it isn’t, they are the worst liars,” Vucic was explicit. Commenting on a KFOR representative’s statement that Rosu was allowed to move to the north of Kosovo, Vucic said that he had heard all sorts of stupid things before, whenever it was necessary to justify a bad action towards Serbia in the past few decades. Speaking of possibilities to continue the talks with Pristina, Vucic said that Pristina should merely lift a tariff it had levied on Serbian products, and the negotiations would resume. Vucic warned, however, that the signals Pristina had been sending, including the new customs fees and a decision to include Fatmir Limaj in the team of negotiators, made it clear that the Kosovo authorities weren't ready for a compromise.

 

Brnabic: Mockery made of all agreements (RTS)

 

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that a mockery is being made of all agreements by a KFOR spokesman who said that a Kosovo police special unit can deploy in the north without permission. Brnabic told RTS on Monday that she told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that ROSU can’t deploy in northern Kosovo.  “We had five cases of ROSU entering northern Kosovo. I discussed this with Stoltenberg and told him that this makes a mockery of all agreement and that they can’t go to northern Kosovo with assault weapons,” she said.

Brnabic said that forming an army was contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, the Brussels agreement, and the Kosovo Constitution itself, and that NATO has clearly and unequivocally stated that it was opposed the formation of an armed force in such a way, adding that Serbia would not allow things to be done that way. According to her, the President and the government of Serbia are conducting an intensive activity in order to point out to all international actors - both those who recognized Kosovo and support the formation of the armed forces and those who oppose it - to all the agreements reached, and remind them of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Commenting Pristina’s decision to increase the tax on imports of goods from central Serbia by 100 percent, the prime minister said it was an arrogant, irresponsible, completely unpredictable policy, and assessed that the only good thing about it was that finally others are also recognizing it as such. “I think it’s come back to bite Pristina, they thought we would react with the countermeasures, so they don’t know what to do with these taxes once they saw us behave responsibly and rationally,” said Brnabic, adding that Brussels gave a big recognition to Belgrade because it did not introduce contaminants and thereby undermine regional stability and peace. She reiterated that Belgrade will not return to the dialogue while the taxes are in force, adding that Brussels understands and supports that. Speaking about a letter sent by US President Donald Trump to Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, she said she understood this letter as a call to Pristina to come to their sense a little, and stop with additional provocations such as a framework for the dialogue. “I think they received a bit of a rap over the knuckles there from the US,” said Brnabic. Asked about the possible involvement of the US, Russia and China in the dialogue, she said that she would not go so far at this time because there is no dialogue. “Everything is blocked, we have made 50 steps backwards not only in terms of the dialogue, but rather in terms of what the EU, especially Germany, has been doing about regional stability. We need peace and stability, the prerequisite for any economic progress is regional peace and stability,” Brnabic said.

 

Dacic: Armed Albanian formations cannot enter northern Kosovo (Tanjug/B92)

 

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says no armed formations of Albanians can enter northern Kosovo without the consent of KFOR. Dacic added, speaking on Monday, that this agreement that had been reached with NATO should be translated into a directive that everyone in the field should respect in order to avoid a situation that would trigger major problems in Kosovo and Metohija. Reacting to a KFOR spokesperson saying that members of the Rosu unit can go to northern part of Kosovo without first obtaining permission, he said that KFOR’s interpretation was that this this unit is not part of the armed, but of the police force, but these are individual interpretations. He believes that there should be a practical way of characterizing all these forces. “We never talked about whether Rosu, or an army, can enter the north without the consent of KFOR and the mayors of Serb municipalities - we always talked about armed formations of Albanians - so NATO would have to have a manual about what we agreed on, and forward it to the representatives in the field,” Dacic said. He said that the US did not request a change in the format of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, and that there have been no official initiatives to this end so far. “By that I don’t mean the daily statements about the expansion of the format coming from Pristina. That’s an expression of dissatisfaction that they have toward Federica Mogherini. On the other hand, the US are not asking to join the dialogue. A change in its format is not a topic that is being discussed at this moment,” he said. Dacic added that, if this change were to occur, Serbia would ask for Russia to be included too, recalling that Russian officials have already said they would be willing to do so. “You don't think we’re crazy to expand the format with those countries that recognized Kosovo, and leave Russia and China on the sidelines,” Dacic said. According to him, these countries will certainly have to be included if an agreement - which is far away now - is reached, in the sense of verifying it in the UN Security Council.

Responding to questions from journalists, Dacic said that Serbia has friendly ties with Russia, and is keeping Moscow up to date about all the goings-on in the dialogue, while there are no disagreements or differences, which will be confirmed by Vladimir Putin’s visit on 17 January.

Serbia, he added, will not agree to any solution that it had not informed its allies, Russia and China, about, along with other countries that support it. Dacic also commented on statements being made by Pristina authorities, to say they want to establish a link with some branches of the US government, adding that in-fighting is taking place in Pristina. “Their political scene is turned toward the internal needs. Every day they’re declaring victories, only they’re doing badly on the international scene. There is not a single foreign policy success that they have achieved,” Dacic said. Pristina authorities, he said, are now like Alice in Wonderland - they don’t know what’s happening to them, how come somebody is now withdrawing recognitions. “They said that Serbia had a two, three hundred million-fund set aside for Kosovo recognition withdrawals... if we did, Kosovo would revoke its recognition,” said Dacic.

 

Djuric: Kosovo Albanians in panic (FoNet)

 

The Kosovo Albanian political elite is in a panic after Prime Minister Ana Brnabic informed the world about their unlawful and anti-civilization measures, the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric said in a written statement to the media. Djuric said the Kosovo Albanian political elite is “reacting to Serbia’s just diplomatic struggle with fear and anxiety”, alluding to Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj’s statement that Brnabic “shamelessly” wrote to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, demanding that he review his support and withdraw recognition of Kosovo.  Djuric added that the Kosovo prime minister is upset because all the governments of the world are faced with arguments about the violent nature of the Pristina regime, the statement said, adding that Haradinaj does not see the difference between justice and injustice.

 

Drecun: Different interpretation as to who can go to the north without consent (Tanjug)

 

The Chairperson of the Serbian parliamentary Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun has stated that KFOR and the Serbian side differ in understanding the agreement reached during the Brussels process on normalization of relations as to who can enter northern Kosovo and Metohija without approval. He says that KFOR interprets the agreement reached with Belgrade in a way that members of so-called Kosovo security forces cannot enter the north without the agreement of the commander and heads of four Serb municipalities in the north, but that the special police units can perform their tasks on this territory. “We differ completely in understanding this agreement, because we consider everything that represents special units with long rifles, combat vehicles, a factor that threatens security and stability of the Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija,” Drecun told Tanjug.

 

Upcoming visit by Putin confirms good relations between Serbia, Russia (RTS/Tanjug)

 

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic spoke with Russian Ambassador to Serbia Aleksandr Chepurin, who expressed the hope that the next year will bring even stronger economic growth, peace and stability in the region and wished a happy New Year. Brnabic also wished him a happy New Year and expressed the belief that the development of mutual cooperation between the two countries will continue in 2019. She expressed her gratitude for the support of the Russian Federation and the consistent position of the Russian Ambassador in the United Nations during the extraordinary session of the Security Council, held at the initiative of Serbia, on the unilateral moves of the Pristina side. Brnabic stressed that the upcoming visit by President Vladimir Putin is of great importance to Serbia and another confirmation of good relations between the two countries.

 

Lavrov: Moscow ready for further close cooperation on Kosovo issue (Tanjug/RTS)

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has sent holiday greetings to Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. In his message, Lavrov said that Moscow is ready for further close cooperation on the Kosovo issue. Lavrov noted with deep satisfaction that the outgoing year was characterized by the active strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two countries. “Many contacts have been held at the highest and other levels. I am convinced that the continuous realization of the joint projects and plans of further deepening of Russian-Serbian cooperation will create a good base for the coming years. I count on new meetings in the coming year to continue with substantial exchanges of views and coordination of steps in the international arena. We are ready for further close cooperation on the Kosovo issue,” Lavrov said.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

RS MoI’s special police forces arrest Dragicevic and other members and supporters of ‘Justice for David’ group, including opposition politicians and journalists (FTV)

 

Special police forces of the Republika Srpska (RS) Ministry of Interior (MoI) arrested on Tuesday Davor Dragicevic, the father of David Dragicevic who was murdered in Banja Luka under unclear circumstances. During the protest of the ‘Justice for David’ group in Banja Luka on Monday evening, Dragicevic noted that three inspectors came to his house that day and handed him the invitation for interrogation under suspicion that he poses a threat to security. The interrogation was supposed to take place on Tuesday.  Police arrested Davor Dragicevic under the explanation that he failed to respond to the call for interrogation in the police’s official premises within a case in which he is suspected of threatening safety of officials. Dragicevic is suspected of committing a criminal offense of threatening safety of RS Minister of Interior Dragan Lukac and Head of the RS Police’s Administration for Organized Crime and Serious Crime Darko Ilic. The special police unit members surrounded the area of the Krajina Square not allowing citizens to gather for a protest at that location, where the citizens have been seeking truth about David’s death every evening for months. The police operation involving arrest of Davor Dragicevic and denying citizens the access to the Krajina Square caused revolt of citizens, who were loudly expressing their disappointment and some of them even clashed with the police.

Regular and special police forces also apprehended David’s mother Suzana Radanovic, PDP leader Branislav Borenovic, PDP MP in the RS National Assembly (RSNA) Drasko Stanivukovic, SDP B&H Vice President Vojin Mijatovic, journalist Vladimir Susak and several members of the ‘Justice for David’ group. Commenting the events that occurred RS President Zeljka Cvijanovic said that RS institutions must conduct their job in accordance with the law. She explained that a joint operation of the police and the prosecution was conducted and she cannot comment if that operation was justified or not, given the fact it does not fall under her jurisdiction. She once again reiterated that she, as a citizen and a mother, sympathizes with the Dragicevic family over the tragic death of their son David Dragicevic. “The police conduct its work based on the requests of the Prosecutor’s Office and activities and measures are being implemented based on their agreements. Not the President of the RS, the RS Prime Minister, nor representatives in the Assembly can meddle in those activities, at this moment”, underlined Cvijanovic, adding that she is aware of the fact that all citizens in the RS want peace and stability, without any incidents and problems. “Of course, they do sympathize with all the families that suffer in any way, especially in situations when something as tragic as this happens”, concluded Cvijanovic. Commenting on Tuesday’s developments, member of B&H Presidency Zeljko Komsic that the issue of reform of police agencies in B&H should be again restored as a topic. Komsic said that police agencies should be put at service of citizens and not political parties and irresponsible individuals. Serb member and Chairman of B&H Presidency Milorad Dodik commented on the reaction of Zeljko Komsic to Tuesday’s police arrests at the Krajina Square in Banja Luka in which Komsic mentioned the need to consider a reform of police agencies in B&H. In this regard, Dodik said that it is inappropriate for Komsic to comment on police-prosecutorial operations in the RS. “Putting the RS police in the context of wartime events from the 1990s, attempts to discredit it through genocide accusations and ultimately calling for new reform of police reveals that Komsic uses the tragic death of a young man from Banja Luka to achieve his own political goals” Dodik was quoted. The EU Delegation (EUD) to B&H and the Office of the EU Special Representative in B&H reacted to the arrests that were made in Banja Luka, stressing that Tuesday's turn of events in Banja Luka sends a negative and alarming signal about the state of rule of law in B&H and urging everyone to stay calm and refrain from violence. "We have asked the RS Ministry of Interior for an immediate explanation of the ongoing arrests of different persons associated with the 'Justice for David' movement, including Davor Dragicevic, as well as opposition politicians. Ambassador (Head of the EU Delegation and EUSR Lars-Gunnar) Wigemark and Ambassadors of all EU Member States present in B&H recently met with Davor Dragicevic and Muriz Memic. We commend their tireless efforts to peacefully seek out justice for the deaths of their sons. It is striking that two fathers in search of justice for their dead sons have mobilized more outcry against lack of rule of law and impunity in B&H than any political party has managed to do,” reads a press release issued by the EUD to B&H. Head of OSCE Mission to B&H, Bruce G. Berton, also reacted to the situation in Banja Luka and appealed for calm and avoidance of violence. Members of ‘Justice for David’ group said that new protests will be organized in front of the Church of Christ the Savior on Wednesday. Reporter carries opinion poll among gathered citizens where majority stated that police should not persecute citizens but murderers. Also, leader of SDS Vukota Govedarica and leader of PDP Branislav Borenovic joined abovementioned protest.  Borenovic addressed gathered citizens and said that he as well as other citizens request only two things: truth and justice.

 

B&H CoM Chairman-Designate not nominated yet, SNSD says obstructions are coming from Federation of B&H (TV1)

 

SNSD’s Zoran Tegeltija still has not been officially nominated as the B&H Council of Ministers (CoM) Chairman-Designate. While SNSD and HDZ B&H expressed their readiness to complete this task by the end of the year, B&H Bloc and SDA want new authorities at the levels of B&H and the Federation of B&H to be formed simultaneously as soon as the B&H Constitutional Court (CC) solves the issue with regard to the decision of the B&H Central Election Commission (CEC) on distribution of seats in the Federation of B&H House of Peoples (HoP). Deputy speaker of the B&H House of Representatives (HoR) Nebojsa Radmanovic (SNSD) said that it is clear that the other two members of the B&H Presidency (the Bosniak and the Croat one) are not willing to nominate the B&H CoM Chairman-Designate. “Their political parties are behind them. Therefore, obstructions are coming from the Federation of B&H” Radmanovic said. DF agreed that there are two major and essential political issues that need to be solved before the process of formation of a new convocation of the B&H CoM. It is first necessary to wait for constitutional review of the B&H CEC’s instruction for distribution of seats in the Federation of B&H HoP, while the other issue refers to the attitude of the new coalition towards membership in NATO. DF Vice President Dzenan Djonlagic stressed that if the candidate for the B&H CoM Chairman-Designate disapproves of B&H’s membership in NATO and activation of the Membership Action Plan (MAP), he will not be supported for sure. Our Party (NS) leader Predrag Kojovic argued that SNSD and HDZ B&H are the main obstacles as they bring into question territorial integrity and sovereignty of B&H, advocating some kind of policies that would bring the country back to the 1990s.

 

Dodik: If parties in Federation of B&H do not care about functioning of B&H, I care even less (TV1/ATV)

 

Chairman of B&H Presidency and leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik stated that if parties in the Federation of B&H do not care about functioning of B&H, he cares about this even less. Dodik commented on obstructions of appointment of SNSD’s Zoran Tegeltija for a new Chairman of the Council of Ministers (CoM) of B&H. Dodik also stated that he is ready to hold a session of B&H Presidency this week and appoint Tegeltija at this meeting, adding that he cannot say whether the session will be held after all.  Dodik stated: “No one disputes that the post belongs to Serbs. Nothing about the name Zoran Tegeltija is disputable, but I do not know reasons for stalling. If they do not want it, they should say it; we can also block. Some members of the Presidency stop formation of the CoM due to some of their conditions”. Dodik stressed that the Federation of B&H parties are not capable of finding solution to complicated political relations. He assessed that it would be optimistic to expect that the process of formation of B&H CoM will be completed by the end of January, because the Federation of B&H politicians always wait for something.

 

Delegations of SDA and SBB B&H fail to reach agreement on joint formation of authorities (TV1)

 

Delegations of SDA and SBB B&H met in Sarajevo on Tuesday in order to discuss possible joint formation of authorities in B&H, but did not reach any agreement on this matter. SDA delegation reiterated the SDA Presidency’s readiness to form a strong pro-Bosnian bloc and in this regard, they presented the SBB B&H delegation with a program principles and possible goals of joint performance, while the SBB B&H delegation emphasized that SBB B&H agreed to this talks out of courtesy. SDA Deputy President Adil Osmanovic stated that SDA expects leadership of SBB B&H to discuss the principles that SDA delegation presented, and adopt final decisions. SBB B&H Presidency member Edita Djapo noted that SBB B&H has already launched “certain processes in cantons” and it considers that there is a need to continue in that direction.

 

Zaev confirms he will not run for presidential election (MIA/Telma)

 

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has confirmed that he will not run for the presidential election, which are, as announced, going to be held in April next year. Zaev, according to sources from the government, advocates holding of the parliamentary elections alongside with the presidential.

A poll recently conducted by TV Telma and the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation shows that Zaev, with 12.4 percent of respondents' support, has the greatest chance of winning if he runs for president, 8.2 percent of respondents' support VMRO DPMNE leader Christian Mickoski and the current head of the Macedonian diplomacy Nikola Dimitrov. As many as 19 percent of respondents believe that none of the offered candidates for the future president of Macedonia is good, while 15 percent did not decide who they would vote for.

 

Xhaferi will not run in upcoming presidential elections (Meta)

 

At a briefing with journalists, parliament speaker Talat Xhaferi said he will not be running in the upcoming presidential election and will remain president of parliament. As for the idea of parliament electing the head of state, Xhaferi says that all parliamentary groups should decide, and if there is a consensus, a change to the Constitution should be passed, which would legally regulate the election. Xhaferi believes that the issue of constitutional changes arising from the Prespa Agreement will be closed by mid-January, and that will open the possibility for the law on ratification of the agreement, along with a law on the use of languages, to be sent to the official newspaper without the signature of President Gjorge Ivanov. “A session on constitutional changes was called for January 9. Our expectations are that until January 15 the entire procedure is completed and for the amendments to be adopted. If we go by experience, the debate should not last longer than five to six days. However, as announced, the absence of the opposition leaves an opportunity for it to end sooner rather than later. In any case, this issue will be closed by mid-January. This opens the way for the two laws to be submitted to the official newspaper,” Xhaferi said. Regarding Ivanov’s refusal to sign off on the two laws, Xhaferi says that he has an obligation to do so, because, the will of parliament cannot be obstructed and it will be realized. “It will happen as soon as I submit them to the Official Gazette. They have my signature That’s the decision,” says the speaker.

 

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SOURCES

 

Putin to visit Serbia in January — Kremlin (TASS, 25 December 2018)

 

MOSCOW, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to make a visit to Serbia in January 2019, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed. "Preparations for the president’s visit to Serbia are underway, the visit is planned for January," Peskov said. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said earlier that he expected his Russian counterpart to visit Belgrade on January 17. The two leaders last met in Moscow on October 2, 2018. According to the Serbian media, the two countries plan to sign 20 agreements during the Russian president’s visit. The implementation of joint energy, infrastructure and innovation projects will also be the center of attention. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said earlier that an agreement on establishing a nuclear center in Serbia could be signed during Putin’s visit to the country.

 

Tannock: Any deviation between UK and EU policies towards WB would be damaging (European Western Balkans, by Aleksandar Ivkovic, 25 December 2018)

 

Interview with Charles Tannock, member of the European Parliament and retiring Rapporteur for Montenegro.

European Western Balkans: During the recent plenary debate on European Parliament Resolutions, you stated that, throughout your tenure as a Rapporteur, Montenegro had been a good news story form the Balkans. Considering serious problems faced by other countries, has the bar for that assessment maybe been set too low?

Charles Tannock: Of course we can be sceptical when looking around the region but these are all fully accepted EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries, each with their own strong proponents for eventual EU accession and although the bar is higher than in previous waves of enlargement it cannot be set impossibly high as post-EU membership reform and peer pressure still carries on successfully as we have seen applied in countries like Poland and Hungary carries on. I would concede that Turkey does perhaps not fit the model given its current politics. Aside from comparisons, Montenegro has much to its credit as a small country with limited administrative resources opened 31 of the 35 chapters with 3 already provisionally closed.

EWB: When you compare the situation in Montenegro at the beginning of your tenure with the present one, where do you see most improvement? Can you pick out a single biggest achievement?

CT: There is no doubt that Montenegro has proved itself a strong Western ally. A member of NATO as of last year in spite of huge attempts by a large country trying to stop this happening. To its credit, it has for many years fully complied with the CFSP, including the sanctions regime against Russia. In terms of domestic policy, I think the efforts in overhauling the functioning of the judiciary in Montenegro has been a big change and will lay the seeds for bigger  improvements in the fight against corruption and organised crime in the future. The successful foiling of an attempted coup d’état also shows the robustness of the state institutions.

EWB: What are the issues that have repeated themselves the most in your reports?

CT: Tackling organised crime and corruption have been the big two featured in every report since I took over in 2009. Improvements have been seen but clearly more needs to be done and this is an ongoing issue. Sad to say, in recent years freedom of the media has emerged as a consistent third topic. This partly reflects the picture across the region, and dare I say, throughout the world, but this cannot shield Montenegro from all criticisms. Attacks and intimidation of journalists is a real problem and a long term settlement of the management of RTCG needs to be found to ease wider political tensions.

EWB: As one of the EU officials that has been dealing with Western Balkans for the longest time, would you say that the Union’s efforts in the region have been fruitful? Have the invested resources brought to expected results?

CT: Well I think firstly I should clarify that I’m not an employed EU official or civil servant functionary and my role as an elected MEP is somewhat different and more independent. For what it’s worth I remain very positive about the EU’s engagement in the Western Balkans and enlargement strategy. This, however, somewhat misses the point in seeing it as an option or a choice. The Western Balkan countries have each expressed a desire to join the EU and the Thessaloniki Declaration made their right under Article 49 as European countries to EU membership very clear. The EU is and will remain a stabilizing force in the region and its engagement is essential as the glue which anchors all mainstream political forces in their common  desire to join Euroatlantic structures and carry on with the needed reform agenda.

EWB: Brexit has emboldened some Western Balkans Eurosceptics. Your position on how the British government has dealt with the whole issue is well known, but what do you think the EU can do to re-establish its appeal among the candidate countries?

CT: I cannot comment in detail on euro-sceptic movements across the region but if I take the examples in Montenegro I am not convinced that Brexit which has been a shambles and a destructive and divisive process has emboldened them. The political forces in Montenegro that are against EU integration have existed for many years and have broadly taken this position vis-a-vis their position regarding where they stood opposing independence for Montenegro in 2006. I don’t believe that the Brexit narrative, beyond mere signposting, is comparable with any of the anti-EU forces in the Western Balkans in a meaningful way – the history and ideological/intellectual undercurrents that motivates them are just too far removed.

EWB: In your opinion, what will the relations between the post-Brexit UK and the EU and Western Balkans look like? What is your best-case scenario?

CT: My view on Brexit is very clear. I am deeply saddened by it and regard it as a selfish and destructive act against the world’s greatest peace, prosperity and security project I am sceptical as to how engaged the UK can continue to be in the Western Balkans post Brexit but obviously I remain hopeful. Economic ties are scare, historical links are limited, and engagement beyond the political level remains weak.

That being said, the UK Government has expressed a strong desire to remain engaged, somewhat bizarrely supporting the EU enlargement agenda, and seeking to offer support. It’s hosting this year of the Berlin Plus conference in London was intended to act as a sign of this. I see a role for the UK to offer support in implementing the acquis given its civil servants familiarity with the detail but I am not sure how much of an overt, political role can be found beyond supporting the reformist rule of law agenda direction set by the EU. Whatever transpires, I am convinced that any deviation between the policies of the UK and the EU regarding the Western Balkans would be highly damaging and must be avoided at all costs.