What Kosovo Can(‘t) Expect from Vucic’s Call for Dialogue (Balkan Insight)
By: Gezim Krasniqi
Far from signaling a new era in Serbia-Kosovo relations, Vucic’s recent call to ‘get real’ on the issue could lead to attempts to redraw borders.
While optimists may have welcomed Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s recent call for an internal debate within Serbia about Kosovo, seasoned observers fear the move will serve to tighten Vucic’s already considerable grip on power.
Vucic wrote a comment piece, published by the Belgrade daily newspaper Blic at the end of last month, calling for Serbs to “get real” regarding Kosovo and stop “putting their heads in the sand”. The article provoked a flood of sparked a huge debate – and their sharing of numerous conspiracy theories – on social media in Serbia.
In fairness, it is still too early to judge how genuine this call for an internal dialogue is but the early signs are not too promising for a number of reasons.