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Analysts: Opening the chapters do not require recognition of Kosovo (Blic)

After writing of the newspapers, which claim that Serbia actually is requested to recognize Kosovo in order to open the first chapter, Serbian analysts stated that conditions for opening the chapters are already stipulated by the Brussels Agreement, as well as technical agreements previously signed by Borislav Stefanovic and Edita Tahiri.

“At this point, Serbia is certainly not expected to formally recognize the independence of Kosovo. When it comes to the conditions that have appeared in the press, they are actually related to previously concluded agreements, in the negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina,” said Vice president of the Centre for Foreign Policy, Dragan Djukanovic.

He also says that there are conditions that are more sensitive, but he is convinced that the EU will not request from Serbia recognition of Kosovo. “However, now, after the formation of the Kosovo government, Serbia will be expected to implement all agreements. They will no longer be able to say: ‘There is no government on the other side, so there is no possibility to implement certain agreements,’ said Djukanovic.

Professor of Political Sciences, Predrag Simic says that in these 11 conditions there is nothing new. “What is unexpected for these conditions is timing, which coincides with the failure of the South Stream project and the difficult position in which Serbia was left,” pointed out Simic. He added that this can be understood as an attempt to push Serbia (at the time Russia left Serbia in the lurch) to accept the principles on continuation of negotiations with Pristina, which only now appear as the principles for the opening of the first chapter.

The director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, Sonja Licht, does not think that the EU requests recognition of Kosovo, in order to open the first chapter. She also does not see these 11 conditions as arguments against Serbia’s EU accession process, since they were already covered by Brussels Agreement.

Political analyst Dejan Vuk Stankovic believes that it is paradox to ask Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence, given the five EU member states didn’t do it.  “When it comes to the status of Kosovo, I think that Serbia will not recognize Kosovo's independence ... for Serbia, Kosovo's membership in the UN is unacceptable,” said Vuk Stankovic.

Minister without portfolio in charge of European integration, Jadranka Joksimovic, refused to comment the allegations which appeared in the media, stating that the Prime Minister already said what he had to say about that topic.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic at a press conference said he could not comment on what is acceptable to us and what is not, and added that it is no secret that there is a chapter 35, which is related to Kosovo and Metohija.